 Reflecting on the journey from my first book, She Belongs to Me, published in December 2011, to now releasing my twenty-sixth novel, I'm struck by the remarkable transformation not just in my writing, but in my life as an author. She Belongs to Me is a suspenseful romantic mystery that marked the beginning of a thrilling and fulfilling path. Now, as I prepare to release Creatus Sovereign, I realize how much has changed and yet, how my core storytelling elements have remained the same. When I started, I was driven by a passion for storytelling, creating characters that readers could connect with, and weaving plots that kept them on the edge of their seats. She Belongs to Me is a testament to that passion. It's about a troubled police officer, Jordan Monroe, and Jaynee, a woman with a past she wants to bury. Their story is one of love, secrets, and danger, elements that have remained a constant in my books. Over the years, my writing has evolved. I've grown more confident in my style, and my stories have become more intricate. With each book, I've strived to create a world that readers can immerse themselves in, feel the emotions of the characters, and be a part of their journey. The industry has transformed dramatically since 2011. The rise of digital publishing and social media has changed how authors connect with readers and market their books. I've embraced these changes, engaging with readers through my blog, newsletter, and social media platforms. It's been a journey of learning and adapting, but it's allowed me to reach a wider audience and connect with my avid reading friends in ways I never thought possible. Writing, for me, has always been more than just telling stories. It's about touching lives, sparking emotions, and providing an escape. I've seen this impact through the comments and messages from readers, and it's what keeps me motivated. The joy and satisfaction I get from reading a positive review or hearing how my books have affected someone's life is immeasurable. Reflecting on my journey, I am filled with gratitude for my readers, who've been with me every step of the way. Their support has been my strength, and their enthusiasm has been my inspiration. As I look forward to the future, I am excited about the new stories waiting to be told, the new characters waiting to be brought to life, and the new adventures waiting to be shared. In closing, whether you've been with me since She Belongs to Me (Romantic Suspense) or have just discovered my Creatus Series (Paranormal Romance), and maybe you don’t usually cross over genres, here’s your invitation to read both bestsellers!
If you’ve read all of my books, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Here's to many more stories, adventures, and shared moments! Until next time, Happy Reading! Carmen  Follow Carmen's newsletter or author pages to be the first to know about new releases, specials, and writing posts!
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This was a "Wow, what an amazing world we live in!" moment, standing on Doe Mountain after a long hike up...
It was hard to put myself into a thriller mindset, wondering what I'd do if I were living out here and saw a plane go down. Imagining myself doing a good thing and finding myself in a life-and-death situation with a sexy, mysterious guy I wasn't sure I could trust...but the other guys were pretty darn clear about trying to kill us both.
Ever slept outside in the desert?
I have! Well, I cheated. I rented a little guest cottage out in the boonies and enjoyed some creative time, some quiet time, and the experience of being out in the wild, so to speak. I wanted to get a taste of what Claire and Quade felt and saw and smelled while having to spend the night in the wilderness. I heard animals rustling and saw so many stars it was if I were looking at a different sky. Thankfully, I wasn't hiding from bad guys who were out to kill me, so there's that!
I absolutely believe that our souls are infinite, and that our experience here in this life is because our souls long to feel everything: love, joy, and yes, even grief and pain. My new romantic bestseller ONE LAST PROMISE explores all of these, and especially hope.
ONE LAST PROMISE is a book of my heart, with action and a gut-wrenching love story...and an HEA that my peeps have to work hard for. And this week only it's on sale for the first time ever!
One Last Promise is a Stand-Alone Story - No Cliffhanger!
Romantic Thriller - Supernatural Suspense
It’s a crazy statement, I know. But all authors have an element of crazy in them somewhere — at least I don’t think I’m the only one. How can we not? We have to balance our lives, family, and day-to-day responsibilities with the art of storytelling. We create lives, personalities, likes, and dislikes. It’s like giving birth without the added weight gain and late-night bottle feedings.
Or is it? If we’re not careful, we drink too much coffee, eat too many snacks — instead of real food — and position ourselves in front of our computer screens for hours on end. Thus, weight gain. Late-night bottle feedings come in the form of waking up in the wee hours of the night, jotting down notes or a scene that’s been plaguing us all day. How do we stay sane? Where do these fictional people come from? Why are we not wearing straitjackets? My best guess is because we’ve learned to blend in with the rest of society. Thankfully, readers are intrigued by our stories, which helps me to keep the purple straitjacket tucked away. All jokes aside, it is my opinion that writing is the truest form of self-expression, healing, and finding a way to cope with whatever ails you. Whether you journal, blog, write a memoir, or take your life experiences or pull from those around you and write a book. No matter what avenue you take, writing is therapeutic. I love to create the characters in my stories. As an only child, I spent a lot of time alone, playing with my baby dolls, stuffed animals, and Barbies. Each had a name and a voice of their own. I spent hour after hour making up stories and creating adventures to entertain myself. Each story had a Happily Ever After. From time to time, I would get the tape recorder (remember that old-fashioned form of electronics?) and make cassette tapes of my little adventures to share with my parents. They, of course, thought my tales were funny. Little did I know that form of storytelling would eventually lead to a writing career. I still use a recorder — digital now — to record my ideas for my books. No dolls allowed; I leave that to my daughter. The tales are no longer about a princess riding horses and marrying a prince. Now the stories deal with real-life experiences. Not all are my own, but they are real, they do happen, and there is heartbreak and pain. But through it all, there is happiness and love. After creating the heroines in my books, I realized something. In each character — as different as they are — there is an element of me. The woman I once was, the woman I am, the woman I secretly wish I could be, and the woman I aspire to become. Multiple Personality Disorder at its best. By telling their stories, I’ve found a way to work through the pain I've experienced to find happiness in my family and the ones I hold dear. Along the way, I’ve made friends I never would have known and gained knowledge I never would have attained. In short, I’ve not only learned how to become a better writer, but I’ve also learned more about myself. Writing has allowed me to make a mark of my own outside of being a wife and a mother. I have discovered something I love, something I’m good at, and something that unless I actually lose my mind, no one can ever take away from me. There’s not a morning I don’t get up with an idea that I’m anxious to put on paper. Seeing the Butterfly Memoirs go through several different stages of evolution over several years taught me so much. Adding to the story, taking away, fine tuning, and finessing … it’s all the part of telling a story — with heart, care, and attention to detail. If you’re thinking about writing a book, watch out for those doctors with those special white coats! By the way, my straight jacket also has butterflies! LOL! Great news! If you’d like to learn more about my characters, my first book, a romantic women’s fiction with heart and soul, is absolutely FREE for a limited time! Hope you enjoyed this insight into my writing world! M.J.
Kindle ● Series ● Play ● iBooks ● Nook ● Kobo ● Audible
To be notified of M.J.'s Deals & New Releases, subscribe to her Newsletter or BookBub! 
When I sit down to write a novel, I generally have no idea where I’m going. My typical start of a story is usually the main character—whether it’s the male protagonist or the female protagonist—and whatever issue they are facing.
From there, I just ask myself questions:
The great thing is, just like the reader, I never know exactly what my characters will do. Sure, I know I want a happily ever after, but I also know that not every character will get a happily ever after. And the detours they make along the way sometimes even surprise me. Why? Because I allow my story to progress naturally. I typically write two thousand words a day, and then every night I read the last few chapters to make sure the story flows, marking any areas that need addressing, and then go to sleep, allowing the characters to come alive in my dreams. And ohhh how they do. It’s not unusual for hubby to see me typing on my iPhone’s notepad in the middle of the night. Often it’ll just be a great line or a missing link I was in search of. When I finally finish the novel, I take an entire day and read from beginning to end, making sure the story flows and that there are no holes or contradictions. Easy, right? I’ve read this story almost thirty times at this juncture. How can it surprise me, how can it make me cry? And yet, here I am, sitting on the sofa, my afghan curled around me, and I’m bawling over something that happened. Hubby, who has been sitting quietly by his computer—because he knows it’s read-through day—whips his chair around to face me and asks, “Are you okay?” I swipe away my tears and answer, “Yes, I just can’t believe that happened.” “Wait. I thought you were reading your book?” he asks. “I am,” I answer. “But it still makes me cry.” He shakes his head and goes back to typing his nonfiction. One of my favorite quotes is by Robert Frost: “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” Well, I’m always surprised, and I always cry when something happens to my characters, so I hope when you read my books you will, too! If you enjoy stories that blend happy and sad, romantic and suspenseful, click the link for your favorite retailer below and grab one of my free books. If you’ve read all my books, make sure you grab my new release, Erik’s Revelation, so you’ll know why I was crying! Until next time, happy reading! Carmen DeSousa
Learn more about Carmen: www.WrittenMusings.com/CarmenDeSousa
Or visit one of her author pages to grab one of her bestsellers! Kindle ● Play ● iBooks ● Nook ● Kobo ● Audible
To be notified of Carmen's Deals & New Releases, subscribe to her Newsletter or BookBub!
10) You can explore mysteries, what-ifs, and universal truths, and you can solve them in whatever way you want. You can stretch your imagination to the outer limits, and make your readers believe, even for a short while, in magic.
9) Whenever you space out and forget where you’re going, or spend two hours in the bath, you can always blame it on the people in your head who, at last, decided to reveal their deepest secrets. (Of course, if you tell this to someone who doesn’t write or read romance, they might send you on an expense-paid trip to the funny farm!) 8) You can buy books as a legitimate business expense. Better, you can read books as a legitimate part of your job. 7) You can go to work in your pajamas if you want or, at the least, sans panty hose, makeup, and an 18-Hour bra. 6) You can have torrid affairs with sexy men and not risk divorce or the fiery gates of hell. 5) You can be the woman you always wanted to be: braver, thinner, sassier, with perfect skin and thick hair. Or the woman you never wanted to be: a bitch, a murderer, the opposite sex… You can be whatever you want for a while, without any repercussions. 4) You learn to develop a balanced sense of self. You’re dancing with angels when a reader tells you you’re the best thing since the discovery of chocolate; you’re in the dregs of self-esteem when your editor tells you your latest book stinks worse than limburger cheese. 3) You can tell your mother she was wrong… It’s okay to tell stories after all. 2) Writing is the one place in your life where you can be God and control your world. If your characters let you, that is. 1) The best, absolutely number one part is knowing that what you love doing will touch someone’s life and take them away from their troubles for a while. I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I love writing for you! Tina
If you would like to read a little more about what Tina writes, follow the links below to download one of her FREE bestsellers. She also has a $0.99 deal this week only! Tina's stories are available in print, eBook, and audio formats at your favorite retailer.
Start Tina's Justiss Alliance series with a FREE book!
Romance - Suspense - SEALs!
Carmen DeSousa writes about what she knows... Sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's sad, but it always ends in Happily Ever After!
A professor once told me that all first-time authors write their autobiography, even if tagged fiction. While I don’t believe that’s completely true, after all, some first-time authors write about vampires and shape shifters, I do think there’s a modicum of truth to that statement. In other words, even if an author writes a work of fiction, there are usually many elements of the story that are factual, and I’d venture to guess that, at minimum, authors probably pattern characters after people whom they know.
When my college professor suggested: “Write what you know.” — a quote often attributed to Mark Twain, but some say it is much older — I wasn’t certain if I really wanted to do that. After all, who would believe me? Here are a few scary subjects I know about: Child abuse, Sexual abuse, Drug abuse, Alcohol abuse, Abandonment, Rape, Suicide, Depression, Stalkers, Crime, Tragedies, Death... But, thankfully, I also know about a lot of good subjects, too: A new family, Hiking, Kayaking, Love at first sight, Happily ever after, Police & Detective Procedures, Belief in God, The power to overcome adversity…, Hey, I moved out on my own at the age of seventeen, and I'm married to a retired police detective, so I've seen a lot. The problem is ... will anyone believe or want to read about "what you know?" Well, I guess that depends. If you put it into a story, add a little, as Hollywood refers to it: Based on a true story, but dramatic elements have been added for the sake of artistic expression, then, yeah, some people will believe and/or want to read because more than likely they can identify with a character and/or a situation. And while they can enjoy an escape into a fictional story, they may take something from it. The funny thing is most of the stories throughout history are based on a couple of those "unbelievable" elements I listed above. Although they may not all be in the same story, "love at first sight," "family tragedy," and/or "an unbelievable or vicious crime" are often the basis of a work of literary fiction. Fairy tales did it. Suspense-thrillers do it. It’s a great start! So if you don’t believe one or more of the elements of a story, does that make it "unbelievable" or a "bad" story? One of the most popular themes is "love at first sight," which often gets a bad rap by reviewers. You may not believe in "love at first sight," but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and many readers love it. In fact, even movies that aren’t tagged as "love at first site," usually have a hero and heroine thrust into an incredibly unbelievable situation, and are all of a sudden willing to die for each other. Of course, there are many classics like that, too: Romeo and Juliet, all the fairy tales, even The Godfather ... ooh, I bet you forgot about that one. Remember when Michael Corleone is walking through the picturesque countryside in Sicily and he spots the beautiful Apollonia… See, even graphic thrillers do it! Well, as I mentioned in the above list, these are all the things I write about. Why? Because it’s what I know. So, let me share a tidbit of information with the unbelievers of the world who don't think "love at first sight" exists... I’ve experienced a lot of tragedy in my life, but I got lucky in love! After my first date with my husband, I called my grandmother and told her I'd just met the man I was going to marry. Thirteen days later, he asked me to marry him. Thirty days later, we got married, and we’ve been married for thirty-one years. Yes, I believe in "love at first sight," yes, I write tales filled with tragedy, mystery, suspense, hope and, above all, romance, because I’m living one. I’ll leave the rest of "what I know" situations that I write about in my books up to your imagination, and let you try to figure out what's real or made up. :) Until next time, happy reading and imagining! Carmen
If you would like to read a little more about what Carmen writes, follow the links below to download one of her bestsellers.
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