A SPECIAL DEDICATION

by Cindy McDonald

If you read my bio it says that my life whirled around a song and a dance for twenty-six years. That’s right, I was a professional dancer/choreographer. I loved my dance school, and when I made the decision to retire from dance to write, it was a heart-wrenching decision indeed.

Over those twenty-six years I’d like to think that I touched a lot of young girls lives in a positive nurturing way. I’d like to think that I helped form them into the lovely young women that many of them became: mothers, lawyers, physical therapists, teachers, and the like. When I bump into my former students they throw their arms around me, kiss me on the cheek, and say things like: “Oh, Miss Cindy, I’m so happy to see you! I miss you so much and I miss dance so much. It was the best time of my life.”

The feeling is most mutual. But the very best part of choreographing was the ballets that we performed. I produced many: The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Firebird which was my second favorite. But it was Coppelia that was my absolute favorite ballet that my dance school performed.

The year was 2005. I struggled that year to produce my show. We had lost my father very unexpectedly on Valentines Day that year—he simply dropped dead in his chair after breakfast. Needless to say my focus was a little off. I had girls counting on me to put on a great show and I’m not one to let anyone down regardless of the circumstances.

I had chosen Coppelia to be our ballet production that year and I dug in with everything I had to choreograph the ballet. When the costumes arrived in March, they were fantastic! A good friend of mine, John, who directed many of the musicals that I choreographed locally, had agreed to play the role of Dr. Coppelius. John is an older man and he is fabulous with a fun sense of humor—the girls all loved him.

Coppelia was a great success and the ballet holds a special place in my heart as does the entire cast. To the Breaking Pointe is dedicated to that cast—the ballet is featured in the book. As I wrote the story—especially the parts where the ballet is mentioned—I could hear the music. I could see the costumes, and I could see the girls in my mind’s eye dancing about the stage. I could see John with a pair of faux bifocals parked at the edge of his nose, chasing Swan Hilda around the shop as Dr. Coppelius.

I have so many warm memories of my dance school, but this ballet was so very special to me and so is To the Breaking Pointe.

* For more information on To the Breaking Pointe and the other books from the First Force Series, Into the Crossfire, and coming soon, Into the Dark, please visit Cindy’s website, www.cindymcwriter.com  Hey! Join Cindy’s newsletter and get the first chapter of Into the Dark delivered directly to your inbox as a thank you!

Book Two of the First Force Series:

First Force operative, Grant Ketchum, let the ballerina of his dreams dance right out of his life. Silja Ramsay returned to Russia, to become the principal dancer for the Novikov Ballet Company.

Natalia Novikov has a dark secret: her ballet company is broke. Natalia forces her dancers to prostitute themselves to financial contributors at exclusive after-show parties. Silja has been kept in the dark about the parties—until an American financier offers to bail the failing ballet company out. His prerequisite: Silja must become his personal companion and fulfill his every desire. Against her will, Silja is taken to the American's mansion, but before she goes she manages to send a text to the only man who can save her, Grant: HELP!

Now Grant is on a mission to rescue his ballerina from this powerful man's subjugation. If they survive, will he let her chasse out of his life again?  

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Excerpt:

Yekaterinburg, Russia:

A crowd had gathered in the reception room in the basement of the Mockba Theatre. The room wasn’t particularly large, yet it was quite elegant with red velvet swags hung in the archways, gilded crown moldings, and crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. A bar was set up in one corner while a violinist played softly in another. 

“It is ridiculous! An outrage! Dominik Potrovic should be included in the auction!” Ivan Belsky bit out in Russian. “A choice, that is what the contributors’ should have! We spend a lot of money at these parties!”

Natalia waved at the bartender for a glass of wine. “I have already explained this to you, Ivan. Dominik is in a relationship with our choreographer, Edvar. He is not available for the auctions.”

“Several of the dancers are married! Yet here they are—to be auctioned as the rest. I understand why Silja Ramsay is not present—she is an American, but there is not excuse for Dominik!”

“I do not understand. You always choose from the box filled with the ballerina’s shoes, not the male dancers. So why do you fuss?”

“I enjoy the girls very much. But Dominik—”

“If you are not happy with our selection of dancers, pull your bid and be on your way.”

Red-faced with frustration, Belsky let out a loud harrumph, and then stalked into the party just as Ballard Crafton rounded the corner.

“Where is Silja?” he asked Natalia as he searched through the party guests. The room was filled with men, a few older women, and most of the dancers from the Novikov Ballet Company. Only one dancer in particular was missing...Silja Ramsay.

“As always, there are plenty of lovely ballerinas here to choose from this evening, Ballard. Forget Silja for now. I will keep working to make her come around.

“No. I am tired of spending time with ballerinas that I don’t want. I only fantasize that she is Silja. I want Silja!” Ballard said. 

Remember: If you read a great book, be kind to the author and leave a review. 

Happy reading, everyone!

WHOA! THAT GUY ON MY COVER IS H-H-HOT!

by Cindy McDonald

   The response to the cover of Into the Crossfire has been nothing less than entertaining. Every time I show the book to any woman I get the exact same reaction. First their eyes widen—sometimes I think I’m going to have to pick their eyeballs off the floor for them, then their jaw drops open, they suck in a little air—let it out slowly, and then they all say the same thing: “Oh my God! He is sooo hot!”

   Yep, and that’s when the questions start. “Who is he?”

   They are always amazed when I say that I know who he is and that I have talked with him through Facebook, and made arrangements for the photograph through the same social network. That’s right, I found Stuart Reardon on Facebook. I also found Stuart Tomlinson—who will be featured on the cover of the next First Force book, To the Breaking Pointe, on FB as well.

   See? Social networking can be more than who’s cheating on who!

   Mr. Reardon is a professional rugby player in the UK. Over the past several years he has taken on another career (quite successfully) as a model. He has been featured on many magazine covers. Sorry ladies he’s engaged.

  Anyway, Stuart is always posting his latest modeling photos on his FB page, and when this particular picture came through my feeds I immediately thought it would be perfect for the cover of Into the Crossfire. FB has many photographers who feature male models on their page and I’ve found that they are a great place to shop for original photos to purchase that can’t be replicated on another book cover. Most of the photographers are negotiable on their prices.

   So, is the story within the pages of Into the Crossfire as hot as the cover? I think so. My first book series, Unbridled, has suggestive scenes within its story-lines, but for the First Force Series I have tossed my inhibitions into the wind to write those bedroom scenes that I’ve longed to pen but was too shy while working with my first series. The Unbridled Series will continue to have suggestive material for those who prefer the love scenes to be a little less descriptive, but in the First Force Series I won’t be slamming the bedroom door in the reader’s face. That said the story-lines will carry all the suspense, twists, and turns that I love to write, and characters that you will miss after you’ve finished reading the book, and have you clamoring for the next books: To the Breaking Pointe and Into the Dark—coming very soon!

   For more information on Into the Crossfire, To the Breaking Pointe or Into the Dark/First Force Series and all of Cindy McDonald’s books please visit her website at: www.cindymcwriter.com Hey! Join her newsletter and get the first chapter of Into the Dark delivered directly to your inbox as a thank you!

It had been four years since ex-Navy SEAL, Jack Haliday, had an explosive run-in with a biker gang wounding their leader, Gunner. During those years Jack had acquired everything he ever wanted: a beautiful wife, an adorable daughter, and a lovely home in the suburbs—everything was as perfect as it could get, until Gunner returned to twist Jack’s world inside-out with a vengeance that he could never have prepared for. Critically injured, he found himself surrounded in the security of First Force International and in the care of their head medic, Dr. Rayne Lee, a beautiful and compassionate woman who knows firsthand the sharp slice of loss and grief.

Now Jack has a score to settle and he’s got some new friends to help him, but in the end, can Rayne help to ease his grief and encourage him to start a new life with team First Force? 

1-Click your copy today: Amazon

Excerpt:

Closing her eyes, Rayne took in a braced breath. “My name is Rayne. And I know all about the nightmares where the ones that you love are murdered in front of your eyes and you are powerless to stop it.” Her voice fell away.

Jack’s head snapped toward her.

She busied herself cleaning up the implements that she had used to suture him while she spoke. “My husband and I were on a medical mission in Peru three years ago. The Peruvian government had taken down a guerrilla group known as the Glory Road near the Amazonian Valley. They had killed or arrested approximately one-hundred members of the group. Matt and I were part of a small medical unit that went in to care for the women that had been held as sex slaves. They were in terrible condition, dehydrated, starved, and beaten. Anyway, Matt, me, and my four-year-old daughter, Sierra, were housed in one of the tiny shacks in a camp. One night, the camp was attacked by the guerrillas they hadn’t captured. It was a slaughter.” Rayne’s voice hiccuped. She needed to catch her breath. She sank onto the edge of the bed.

Jack watched her intently while she fought to muster composure.

Finally, she continued, “They killed my husband and my daughter, but for some reason they spared me and several of the women who had been rescued. I wished that they hadn’t. I was their prisoner for seven horrible months. I prayed for death every night. Uncle Walt and his team rescued me. It’s been a long road back to becoming a functioning human being.” Hesitating, she wrung her hands together. She found the courage to look him in the eye. “So you see, Jack, I have a complete understanding of what you’re going through.”

  

Remember: If you read a great book, be kind to the author and leave a review. 

Happy reading, everyone!

Please give the wonderful Cindy McDonald a warm welcome...

About Cindy McDonald

For twenty-six years Cindy’s life whirled around a song and a dance. She was a professional dancer/choreographer for most of her adult life and never gave much thought to a writing career until 2005. She often notes: Don’t ask me what happened, but suddenly I felt drawn to my computer to write about things that I have experienced with my husband’s Thoroughbreds and happenings at the racetrack—she muses: they are greatly exaggerated upon of course—I’ve never been murdered. Viola! Cindy’s first book series, Unbridled, was born. Currently there are five books in the series.

Cindy is a huge fan of romantic suspense series’, especially with a military ops theme. Although she isn’t one to make New Year’s resolutions, on New Year’s Day 2013 she made a commitment to write one. There are two books in her black ops series, First Force, at this time: Into the Crossfire and To the Breaking Pointe.

People are always asking Cindy: Do you miss dance? With a bittersweet smile on her lips she tells them: Sometimes I do. I miss my students. I miss choreographing musicals, but I love writing my books, and I love sharing them with my readers.

Connect with Cindy:

www.cindymcwriter.com

Twitter

Facebook

Stay tuned for excerpts from her great First Force books Into the Crossfire and To the Breaking Pointe.

Let me introduce you to…And, It, Was, That, Then.

These can be nasty habits writers overuse in their stories. Some can come to rely on them without realizing it.

A good way to remember our repeat offenders is to think of them as a sentence…And it was that then. Keeping them in mind this way, along with a little practice, will keep you from relying on them in the future.

After you’re done creating your work of art, take a few days away from it. Give yourself a break before going through your self-editing round. Then do a search and find for these repeat offenders. Doing this will not only save you and your editor valuable time later, but they will love and remember you for taking the initiative. The goal is to keep these words to a minimum. Shoot for a number as close to your page count as you can.

Now obviously, taking out ‘And’ is not an easy task, especially when nine times out of ten you’re using it in an action sentence. You need to ask yourself if showing this action is necessary, then ask yourself if there is another way to show what’s happening. The same can be said for the rest of our little villains. Some of these words can removed without altering the sentences in any way; others you will need to rewrite.

If you utilize deep point of view, you’ll avoid over using most of these words. There will be a post about deep point of view later.

Please don’t forget the occasionally repeated words during this process as well, those words that stick out at you as you’re reading through the self-editing stage. Examples of these words are things like gasped, and/or any item word like table or door in a paragraph, any action a character constantly repeats to the point it’s distracting, and the use of pronouns, etc. The point is to strive to not repeat words but to entertain and keep your reader’s attention. 

Happy writing!

Stephanie  ~Editor~

Wake-Up Call

There is nothing like waking to a laughing, smiling little face, even when that cherubic face just blew away a completed book idea like a tornado through a cornfield. I mean the whole story from beginning to end. I didn't even have time to roll over and grab pen and paper before ~poof~ everything vanished, as if it never existed.

Of course, seeing the smiling face is worth the wake-up call, but it's certainly frustrating knowing the story that was just within your grasp is now floating around the edges of your mind taunting you. “Here I am, but you can’t have me...yet.”

Will the story return in my dreams tonight? Who knows. Will bits and pieces come back to me as I start to write the story? I sure hope so. 

Has this or anything similar ever happened to you?  If so, what do you do? Do you move to another project or spend time trying to remember what you lost?

Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section. The readers and I would love to hear how you handle something like this.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!