BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR LOIS WINSTON

Besides writing those books about moi, author Lois Winston writes other books. Today she shares with us the story of how she came to be an author. Learn more about Lois at her website. -- AP

At Long Last...an eBook!

This is the story of one book’s journey and how it changed my life. I was not one of those kids who knew growing up that I wanted to write books. Frankly, the thought never occurred to me. So back in 1995 when I couldn’t shake a recurring dream, it wasn’t the most obvious of decisions to write the dream down.

Funny thing about dreams, at least my dreams, I rarely remember them. This dream was different, though. It unfolded every night like the chapters of a book. Eventually, I began daydreaming about my nightly dream, and it started taking over my life. It was a story that wouldn’t let go of me. Much of this probably had to do with the fact that I’d gone through several very rough years at that point and was feeling burned out. I guess my subconscious mind was trying to tell me that I needed a break.

Life must go on, though, and this dream was taking up too much of my time. One day I had a brainstorm: If I wrote the dream down, maybe I’d get it out of my system. So I began to write. The next thing I knew, I’d written a 50,000 word romance that spanned thirty-five years. So I thought I’d try to get the book published. Obviously, I knew nothing about the publishing world at that time. I soon discovered no one is interested in publishing a 50,000 word novel which spans thirty-five years.

However, the writing bug had sunk its teeth into me and wouldn’t let go. So I went about finding out how to write a book that stood some chance of getting published. I joined several writing organizations, went to workshops and conferences, and began to network. Fast forward ten years, almost to the day, and I’ve sold my first book to a New York publisher. Not the 50,000 word romance that spanned thirty-five years. My first published book was Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous women’s fiction. Along with learning how to write, I discovered I had a humorous voice lurking within me. Who knew? I’m the person who never remembers the punch line to jokes!

Over the years that first attempt at novel writing called to me from time to time, and I would haul it out from under my bed, sweep off the dust bunnies, and work on it. Eventually, that 50,000 word romance spanning thirty-five years transformed into Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception, a 74,000 word romantic suspense that takes place over a few months. It became the second book I sold.

Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception was released in 2007. It received some great reviews and won several fiction awards, including the Winter Rose Award for Excellence in Romance Fiction, The More Than Magic Award, and the Laurie Award. Unfortunately, this was around the time that my New York publisher started having financial problems. Authors stopped receiving statements and royalty checks. None of us had any way of knowing how much money we were owed. Eventually, the publisher went out of business, owing hundreds of authors hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The good news is I got the rights back to both Talk Gertie to Me and Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception. Talk Gertie to Me has been available as an ebook for nearly a year. And now, after a long story that I won’t bore you with, I can officially announce that Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception is also available as an ebook. This book has a special place in my heart because it started me on my writing career. As I spent the last few weeks getting it ready for upload as an ebook, I rediscovered why this story had such an emotional pull on me. Along with being a gripping romantic suspense and a love story, it’s also a story about empowerment. And I’m so grateful that dream wouldn’t leave me alone.

Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception

Life has delivered one sucker punch after another to Emma Wadsworth. As a matter of fact, you could say the poor little rich girl is the ultimate poster child for Money Can’t Buy Happiness — even if she is no longer a child.

Billionaire real estate stud Logan Crawford is as famous for his less-than-platinum reputation as he is his business empire. In thirty-eight years he’s never fallen in love, and that’s just fine with him — until he meets Emma.

But Emma’s not buying into Logan’s seductive ways. Well, maybe just a little, but she’s definitely going into the affair with her eyes wide open. She’s no fool. At least not any more. Her deceased husband saw to that. Besides, she knows Logan will catch the first jet out of Philadelphia once he learns her secrets.

Except things don’t go exactly as Emma has predicted, and when Philadelphia’s most beloved citizen become the city’s most notorious criminal, she needs to do a lot more than clear her name if she wants to save her budding romance with the billionaire hunk someone is willing to kill for.

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