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Sorry that I haven't posted in a while.  Have been busy getting my titles back on Amazon.  Virtually ALL of them are there now, save for THE ULTIMATE PASSAGE.  That one, too, will be available again in just a few weeks.  So...check them out!
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The promotional video trailer for Checkmate just topped 11,000 hits!  Not a lot by YouTube standards, but when my other book trailers had only 500 hits at most, it's good enough for me!  Check it out and help keep those numbers climbing!  Thanks!
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Well, folks, it's back! "Wagons To The Past," my first published book and my personal best seller, is now available in the AuthorsDen.com Bookstore.  I think "Wagons" will always be my favorite book...probably because it WAS the first. It also developed my love of time travel romance.  The book isn't your typical time travel romance, though. First of all, not just one but forty-two people are transported to the past. They're all members of a tourist wagon train. These people are on vacation, headed for the Rocky Mountains. When they reach their destination, they're supposed to just hop a plane and go home. Well, it doesn't quite work out that way. Their wagon master tells them all the story of a "ghost train" that wanders the prairie...the remnants of an actual 1847 wagon train whose inhabitants all died in a prairie fire. The next thing they know, the ghost train is trudging through their camp and they are suddenly in the past. They join up with a real wagon train headed west.

Secondly, the book his rich in history. I spent hours and hours at the library researching the Oregon Trail (this was before the days of the Internet) and the hardships suffered by the original pioneers--people who gave up everything they knew and risked their lives to start a new life out west. Strangely, "Wagons To The Past" has had more male readers than females, despite the fact that the romance between Luke and Rachel is the primary focus of the book. I guess that just goes to show that the action/adventure part of the story rivals the romance. So, if you're so inclined, pick up a copy of "Wagons To The Past." And, if you're femaile, make your significant other read it, too!
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When I started writing thirty years ago, I never dreamed I would have reason to write "Tender Persuasion."  Then I was a young wife and mother who had the world by the tail.  Then came January 1, 1999, the day a man broke into my house and raped me on my living room floor.  I had the typical reaction, I guess.  This couldn't be happening to me.  I was older then (42).  I was overweight and not what I considered sexually attractive.  Why would he want me?  It took me a long time to realize, and accept the fact, that rape is not about sexual attraction.  It's about power.  This animal didn't force himself on me because he was attracted to me.  He did it because he wanted me to feel powerless, filthy, and riddled with guilt.

Now, don't misunderstand me here.  I am not the victim in "Tender Persuasion," and my husband isn't the hero--at least not in the book. He, too, carried me through the days, weeks, and months following the attack.  It was also him who talked me into seeking rape counseling. That's where I met "Kaitlyn."  She was my counselor.  We were a couple of months into the sessions before she told me the basics of her story, and I couldn't get it off my mind.  What I suffered was nothing compared to what her rapist put her through.  My attacker was with me for an hour.  Hers was with her for eight.  I was raped once.  She was raped twelve times.  The mere thought put my own assault into perspective.  You know that old saying that, no matter how bad you have it, someone else has it worse?  Well, that's exactly the way "Kaitlyn's" story affected me.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't take my own rape lightly.  I carried the guilt, the shame, for years and, to a certain extent, I still suffer from the effects of it even today.  "Kaitlyn," though, her story was incredible.  It was almost unbelievable...and it had to be told.

I want you to understand one other thing.  "Kaitlyn" did not tell me her story to somehow undermine what happened to me.  She told me so I would understand that any rape could be overcome with love, understanding and support.  A plaque on the wall in her office epitomizes that thought.  It's now my epitaph, and it is also the dedication in "Tender Persuasion."

“Inner strength is the key to acceptance.
Understanding is the key to battling self-guilt.
Friends are the key to recovery,
And love is the key to life."

"Kaitlyn" wrote those words.  She has lived by those words, and now I live by them, too.  

When I first started writing "Tender Persuasion," I didn't know if I was up to the task.  How do you tell such a horrible story and turn it into a good thing?  I wanted readers to gain strength from what Kaitlyn went through.  I wanted other rape victims to see, as I had, that even the most brutal, humiliating experience in their lives could be conquered.  But as the hours passed and more and more of her story was revealed, I was left numb, horrified.  Could I really put it down on paper?  Could I really find the strength within myself to tell her story, and tell it well?

Yes, I decided.  "Kaitlyn" had lived through it.  If she could survive, if she could find reason to live after the most horrific eight hours of her life, then yes.  I could find the strength, the compassion to tell her story.

That "story" wouldn't have been possible without "Marc."  He was the one who plucked "Kaitlyn" out of the darkest place on earth and showed her that there was light at the end of the tunnel.  His patience, his understanding, his love were the heart of the story.  As I began writing, though, he came out on the page as too perfect.  Readers would never believe this guy actually existed.  So, I went back to "Kaitlyn" and asked a simple question. "Did he ever get mad?"

Her response was "Oh, yes"--and then the real "Marc" began to emerge. He was human.  He was just a man--a man who loved "Kaitlyn" to death--and he began his "treatments", as she called them, with one goal in mind. He would get her to relax to his kiss, his touch, and, ultimately, he would convince her that she could love him.

DId it happen quickly?  No.  Did he become frustrated?  Of course.  Did he throw in the towel and say enough is enough?  You bet he did.  Did he attain his goal?  Well, let me put it this way.  "Marc and Kaitlyn" are still married today and have two children.  Yes, even the most brutal of all rapes can be overcome.
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Checkmate Video 01/29/2011
 
I'm trying my best to get the hits up on the Checkmate trailer on YouTube...but am not having a lot of luck!  Please...click on the video link below and check out the trailer.  It will also help if you post a comment about the video on YouTube or "Like" it.  Thanks! 
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When Kathe and I first began plotting “Destined Passage,” we knew that we needed a whole different story and a totally different type of hero and heroine. Since we wanted the new characters to eventually meet up with the old ones, though, we knew the time periods had to be virtually the same. Therefore, it was decided to put “Destined” in the post Civil War era…and to make white slavery the main plot. We knew that “Brittany Cavanaugh,” the heroine, had to make the spunky Kristie Somers from “Charmed” look like a baby in comparison. Likewise, the hero had to be a notch up from Eric Langston. Well, Jacques Devereaux ended up being a foot or two above Eric in character. He was a pirate, in every sense of the word…and he captained a white slavery ship that transported kidnapped women to a slave island off the coast of Florida. Add Clay Gentry, a southern gentleman, to the mix and that left poor Brittany torn--and more than a little confused--when she ended up sleeping with both men. (Her reasons behind this are integral to the plot, so I won't reveal them here.) This story was just plain fun to write. We knew that each successive story in the saga had be better than the last, and the characters in “Destined Passage” made it easy. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the reader saw Eric and Kristie again by the end of the book.”
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Do you want to receive a copy of "Charmed Passage," the first book in the "Passage" Time Travel Romance Saga, absolutely free?  (A $20.00 value.) All you have to do is buy a copy of my new romantic thriller, "Checkmate" from either Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com. (It's cheaper at Barnes and Noble.)  After you receive the book, drop me an email through the "Contact Jean" page and quote word for word the dedication at the beginning of "Checkmate" as proof that you actually received the book. Once I get that confirmation email, I'll ship you a signed copy of "Charmed Passage" (while supplies last) absolutely free! (I'll even pay for the shipping.)  I would also ask that you post a review of "Checkmate" here in my blog, so other readers can see what you thought of the book.

Yes, there is a method to my madness.  Not only will this offer hopefully get readers to buy "Checkmate," but it will also get them hooked (I hope!) on the "Passage" Saga.  "Destined Passage," Book Two in the saga, is already available in the AuthorsDen.com Book Store, and the last two books "Doomed Passage" and "The Ultimate Passage" will be soon. To date, the books in the "Passage" Saga are mine and Kathe's best sellers. In fact, while we were writing the saga, we constantly had readers emailing us for updates on when the next book would be released. It really is that good. And if you like LONG books, this series is definitely for you. The final book in the series runs almost 1000 pages.

So, order "Checkmate," get a free copy of "Charmed", and enjoy! 

 
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I am so happy and excited to announce that "Charmed Passage," the first book in mine and Kathe Birch's The "Passage" Saga is now available for purchase in the AuthorsDen.com Bookstore!  This series was our best seller and I was just sick when my previous publisher went out of business and they were out of print.  All of my books will be available on Authors Den soon, so be patient! A special thank you here TO Authors Den for their new "Book Factory", where they make it so easy to authors like myself to get their work out there.  If you haven't checked them out, do so at http://www.authorsden.com/.  There slogan is "Where Authors and Readers Come Together", and it so so true!  They are one of the best sites on the web if you're looking for a good book.
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Post Title. 01/12/2011
 
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