Uncategorized

New Book! Kauai Spy Games

by Kristen James

Kauai Spy Games – Kindle Link

by Kristen James and Jeff Ivanov

Seasoned covert operative Jeff Ivanov knows something is stirring in paradise. His never ending antics and perchance for romance got him a two year leave,  aka paid vacation, to his childhood home of Kauai. The Garden Island, however, is a hotbed of nationalities with hidden national agendas.  Even while enjoying the island Aloha life, he can’t miss the gorgeous Russian ladies flirting with scientists and engineers from Kauai Missile Base. When his old team members start to show up, the party’s on. Of course their mission isn’t condoned or even recorded. The Na Pali Seven do not exist.

As the son of a US Naval Captain and a Russian born professor, his role is to use his Russian connection to block the Russians from getting too close to the enamored scientists. The assignment gets real easy when Anya saunters into the bar and into his sights. They play the game together but emotions are dangerously real.

The Na Pali Seven could be responsible for stopping the largest and most devastating attack on US soil and Ivanov might be falling for the enemy.

Kauai Spy Games on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KauaiSpyGames)

 

Treasure Hunting in The Woods

by Kristen James

What’s more fun than an Easter Egg Hunt? Foraging Chanterelle mushrooms in the woods in the mossy forest floor. My husband and I went sighted in our hunting rifles (and I put a hole right in the middle of my target several times!) and then went mushroom hunting under the tall timber, where thick moss grows over the stumps and logs. We’d find one sticking up here and there and discovered, if we poked around the surrounding moss, we could find several more. They were hiding this time.

We came home with over 9 pounds of mushrooms in our pillow cases, which made it fun because it looked like Santa’s bags. And when you pick mushrooms, you can’t resist making mushroom soup. I started that and broccoli soup for the kids. I’d promised them broccoli soup before finding all the mushrooms, and cheddar broccoli soup is pretty irresistible too. So I ended up with two big pots of yummy homemade soup.

Of course you have to really, really know what you’re doing if you forage wild mushrooms. We’ve learned from books (What the Rain Brings, our favorite) and my husband’s brother who is a biologist. Chanterelles are one fairly easy to identify. There are some that we can almost identify, but we won’t eat them! Almost isn’t good enough. If you take the time to learn about edible mushrooms, it can be very rewarding.

Sneak Peak from A Cowboy For Christmas

by Kristen James

Brent’s jeans hugged his legs all the way up. Then his shirt molded to his trim waist before stretching across his shoulders. She looked at the horse as he drew closer so he wouldn’t see the way she admired every inch of him.

“I’m going to ride your horse?” Could it be a good sign? Or did he plan a big joke on her? She hated uncertainty worse than anything, and he put her on shaky ground time and time again.

“I trust him, and believe me, you’ll want a horse we can trust.” He motioned for her to come over. That authoritative gesture sent hot licks of want up her. The sensation shocked her senseless for a minute. He motioned again.

“Okay, okay.” Keep your senses about you, girl. The speckled monster pawed the ground and looked her over. She joined Brent on the horse’s left side.

“Offer your hand, like you did before.” Brent instructed. “He senses your fear.”

Fear? She wanted to argue, but she wasn’t much of a liar. After she looked at Brent, she held out her hand and Jeffery rubbed his soft nose in it.

“All right, boy,” Brent soothed. “This lady needs to learn how to ride, and you’re just the horse to do it.”

After he reassured the horse, he turned to her. “I’m putting you on the fast track to riding. We could put you up there bareback so you could learn to lead, but you said you’re fast learner, right?”

Was that a dare? “I am.”

“We’ll get you up there, then you can get used to how it feels. Next you’ll practice leading him with the reins. Now watch.” He grabbed the saddle, put his foot in the stirrup, and swung up. After he dismounted, he nodded for her to try.

Just like that, huh?

“Hand here.” He took her hand and pulled it up. She jumped at his touch. A small jump, but she felt it all the way through her.

His hat threw shade over his eyes, but she was pretty sure he’d seen.

“Foot there,” he said. She nodded and pretended not to hear the amusement just begging to slip through his steady voice. She did as instructed and placed her foot in the stirrup.

“Up and at ‘em.” He swatted her bottom as she started up.

 

Go to Amazon to sample the first chapter on Kindle or print with See Inside!

“A Cowboy for Christmas is a great romance for the holidays or anytime you like.” Coffee Time Romance

“It was a great romance that I could easily see made into a holiday movie.” The Fictional Bookshelf – 5 Star Review

You might also like More Than Memories.

September Travel and Writing News

by Kristen James

September is travel month. Well, so far. I visited Canada for the first time and saw some of the countryside and a few cities. We drove up to Coquitlam and saw a beautiful park there, full of everything from sand volleyball to a track. It had a water park, playground, skate park, soccer fields and concessions. Now it also has permanent ping pong tables from my husband’s company, Bravado Outdoors! I have to say I’m a bit jealous of their park – we need more parks like this here in the US. You could seriously spend half a day there with your kids, and it was free.

Canada wasn’t that much different from Oregon and Washington, but I noticed a fun accent that seemed to pop up on the end of sentences.

The entire drive from mid Oregon up into Canada was beautiful and it didn’t get really hot until our last day coming home. After Canada, we returned to Washington and went to the San Juan islands. This was another first for me, and well worth it. My favorite part was actually the hour ferry ride out to the island and back.  I love watching the water, feeling the wind when we went outside and watching for whales. I didn’t see any on the ferry ride, but I was lucky enough to spot one off the Oregon coast about two weeks ago. It was hot in Washington and on the island, but it felt pretty cool and windy on the ferry deck. There were sailboats everywhere – we watched them from the ferry and while we ate dinner in a place overlooking the boats and bay.

 

September Writing Updates

Check out my previous blog for the Big Giveaway. There’s several blogs hosting a giveaway – check visit them to enter for a combination of print and ebooks from my titles.

I have a guest blog on Bee’s Knees Reviews titled “What the Publishing Revolution Means to Readers.”

A Cowboy For Christmas is featured in the Book Junkie Library for September along with two other books. The site lists over 150 authors and 300 books. I’m hoping A Cowboy For Christmas makes the top 1,000 in Kindle this month. We’re getting close!

A Flash of Inspiration is free in Kindle. It’s a collection of 100-word stories, including two from me.

Wow, that’s a lot of updating for the first week of the month! I’m enjoying the end of summer (and the return of hot weather here) but I’m also looking forward to writing more during the winter hours.

Back To School Thoughts

by Kristen James

I’m starting to wonder if I jinxed summer! I blogged about the season and then, when my kids went back to school, it suddenly got cool here. We’ve had three days of cooler, cloudy weather. Now I’m hoping my garden will mature before the weather really turns to autumn.

School started with a bang. We’re into the full swing of things and even two days into football practice – tackle football even, so I’m a bit nervous. Sometimes I wish they had a “stay little” button so I could catch up and be ready for all this!

My year seems to structure itself around the school year – I set goals starting in fall. Last school year I wrote and published several books, and this summer I focused on freelance writing and spending time with the kids. We had a lot of fun, and of course the summer went by all too quickly. In August, I got to watch one of my novels, A Cowboy For Christmas, spike up the rankings in Kindle and continue to climb. It’s been a fun and amazing to experience. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in September. A Cowboy For Christmas will be featured on The Book Junkie Library and I’m also joining a book giveaway with Bees Knees’s Reviews where we’ll give away a few print and Kindle copies of my books.

Enjoy your summer/fall weather!

Update – The Giveaway is up (see next blog post) and my guest blog on Bee’s Knees Reviews, “What The Publishing Revolution Means to Readers”  is up at http://beeskneesreviews.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-publishing-revolution-means-to.html.