Sizzling Summer Reads and Contests - Oh My!

With Memorial Day and a vacation around the corner my thoughts are turning to summer reading. I tend to go for heavier reads in the fall and winter and look for more light hearted ones in the warmer months. Makes sense, huh? So I was delighted when a number of us at Siren-Bookstrand decided to get together for a sizzling summer event. We'll have some excerpts, some contests and time to talk about our current works in progress and what we're reading.

With the release of my own summer book, The Glass Cage, this past week my thoughts are turning to book 3 in the series. So far my working title is Flame, but we'll see where it goes -- yes, there will be fire and a fire fighter or two in it -- as well as the return of Ryan Michaels. Adrian may have confessed to stalking Kelly, but you have to wonder about Ryan and if he really supports her latest endeavor.

I've already picked out my summer reads including a few Mariah Stewart and I pulled out some of my original Rosemary Rogers to re-read.

So what are you looking forward to reading this summer?

The Glass Cage

The Glass Cage by Regan Taylor -- An Exercise is Catharsis and Celebration!

Most of my books have at least one element of my life in them. In Her Eyes, co-written with Jennifer Cloud, we had an element of walk-ins, what happens when a soul isn't ready to move on and it finds a new body/home to reside in. His Eyes went a bit further with my belief in reincarnation. My kitty, Ginny, has a guest appearance in one scene.

I used to work in law enforcement. In fact, I was recently taken to task by a fellow dispatcher at the California Highway Patrol for not mentioning CHP in my bio. That will shortly be remedied. He didn't exactly write me about it; rather he bcc'd me on a mass email he sent to a rather large number of dispatchers I used to work with, updating them on what I was doing and did they notice they didn't rate a place in my bio. He then wrote and told me he didn't mean anything bad by it. Uh huh. The CHP has a minor part in my current work in progress. They were there before I received said email. It was my experiences working in local law enforcement that drew me to writing the McKenna series. We had a stalking case while I was there. He didn't do anything the stalker in The Spell does, but with my background in psychology I did spend time looking at what motivates a stalker.

The Glass Cage, book 2 of the series, available ohhhhhh in about 4 hours here at Siren-Bookstrand, draws more intensely on my own experience in the police department. The ride along scene is similar to one I actually experienced. Even though that incident happened about 7 years ago, I still got goosebumps when I wrote the scene, remembering what I saw and felt that night. Watching a suspect reach for a gun when you're maybe only five feet away is tense to say the least. It also draws on an experience that 5 of my friends and I shared. Not out of choice, it was perhaps one of the most horrible experiences in any of our lives. I could not have written The Glass Cage without Eb, Lori, Maggie, Karin and Sandy, the friends I dedicated it to. We supported each other during the experience and out of that trial by fire we forged friendships of a lifetime. Of all my books, this one was the most cathartic.

        The Glass Cage