With tweezers poised above the glass sample dish, Marly slowly lowered the new pollen onto the already-harvested grains. She held her breath and tapped down ever so slightly–

The door to the greenhouse swung open and slammed shut behind her son. Marly gritted her teeth and suppressed a sigh.

“Hey, Mom.”  Wandering among the tables covered with tiny seedlings, Michael absently fingered a leaf.

“Hi, sweetie.”  Marly slipped off the glasses she wore only for precision work.  “How was school?”

“Ahh–what? Oh, yeah, it was good.” He leaned gingerly against one of the less-populated tables, stuck his hands into the front pockets of his faded jeans and faced his mother. “Yeah, it was. . .good.”

Marly studied her son.  He needed a haircut, she noted absently, but it was the expression in his eyes that caught her attention. She had gotten a vibe that something was wrong, but now, looking at him. . .she realized that he wasn’t brooding or mad. Instead, his eyes were bright with banked excitement.

“Okay, spill.”

His mouth tilted into a familiar half-grin, Michael raised his eyebrows and feigned ignorance. Marly shook her head and fixed him with a steady gaze. “Not gonna fly with me, bud.  Something good happened, and you’re going to tell me. Now.”

He never could hide anything from her.  A grin broke across his face.  “Mom, I met her.”

If she had any doubt about his meaning, the joy in his voice erased it.  “Her?  You met. . .a girl?”

“Not a girl, Mom.  Her.”

Marly caught her breath.  “Are you sure?”

“It was just like Dad said.  And Poppy. I saw her standing outside a classroom. . .just in the walkway.  Nell was going after her about something–you know how Nell is.  And I–”

“Nell?” Uneasiness shot through Marly.  “What was Nell doing?”

Michael shrugged impatiently. “What does Nell always do?  She was getting in her face about their chemistry class, how Tasmyn shouldn’t be in it–I don’t know.  I just broke it up, and Nell walked away mad.  And then Tasmyn–”

“Tasmyn.”  Marly tested it.  “Pretty name.  Different.”

“Not just pretty. Gorgeous. I mean, Mom–absolutely drop dead beautiful. I can’t wait for you and Dad to meet her.”

“Whoa there, buddy. You’re moving kind of fast on this. You meet her today and you already want to introduce us to her?”

Michael ran a hand through his hair, a gesture of impatience Marly knew well.  His dad did the same thing.

“I’m telling you, Mom.  It’s her.  It is.  Today I met the girl I’m going to love for the rest of my life.”

I’m enjoying this cyber tour so much.  It’s fun to meet new people and talk books, writing, publishing. . .I wish I could invite you all over for a book party or a reading, but if that can’t happen, I’m happy we can visit together in cyber world.

Speaking of which, do stop by Reading Lark today and read my guest post.  It’s always so much fun to work the the Larks. I love their reviews and their site.

I’m beginning to get into a groove here on our own site. You’ll find a new post about writers surviving in the real world under Sanity Saturdays each weekend.  I’m shooting for a book review once a month, although right now, while I’m doing the final edit for BREATHLESS, that might not happen.  And I’ll try to keep you updated on the progress of the King Series, with little tidbits of sneak previews for the upcoming books.

We’ll also be doing some small giveaways and contests in the coming months.

Speaking of giveaways, if you haven’t been to Taking Time for Mommy and entered the Kindle giveaway. . well, why not?  When you sign up for my newsletter through the tour, you not only get 25 entries for the Kindle, you also will receive a free e-copy of BREATHLESS.  Good deal all around!

Be sure to stop by my author page on Facebook and share some FEARLESS love.  I want to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Good morning, folks. . and an especial hello and welcome to all the wonderful people stopping by on my book tour for FEARLESS, which kicks off. . well, right now!

I hope that you’ll hit all the stops on the tour and participate completely.  Today, though, I have to stand in support of all the sites that are black in protest of the proposed bills, SOPA and PIPA.

While the intentions of this bill are admirable, the consequences would be grave for everyone.  None of us like piracy.  We understand that Congress is attempting to protect us.  However, SOPA and PIPA would not end piracy; it would seriously cripple legit businesses and discourage job creation and growth.  Seriously, people. . we’re just maybe beginning to see the glimmers of hope in the midst of this economic midnight.  Do we need to intentionally do something that we know is going to extinguish those glimmers?

Some of the biggest sites and businesses on the internet are dark today in protest of the proposed legislation.  And AOL, eBay, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo! have all written a letter to Congress informing our lawmakers of their grave concerns.

If you want to know more about SOPA and PIPA (and you should), and if you want to sign the protest petition (and you should), go here.

I’ll happily see you back here for the rest of the tour.  I’ll catch you on Twitter and chat with you on Facebook. But for today, I’m standing down.

My very first promotional tour for FEARLESS kicks off tomorrow.  I am so excited, and I hope you all are, too.

Since my book is exclusively at amazon.com and under the KDP Select program, we’re giving away a Kindle on this tour. Yes, a Kindle!

AND if you sign up for my newsletter at the tour site, you’ll receive a FREE copy of BREATHLESS, the second book in the King Series. (There’s a sneak preview here on the site. . .just to give you a taste of what you’ll be getting!)

So. . .what are you waiting for? GO over to Taking Time For Mommy and sign up! Enter!

See you on the tour!

I am so excited about my very first author interview–where *I* am the author, that is!!–now available on Reading Lark.

Read the interview here.

It was so much fun to answer the questions that Andrea posed; they definitely made me think a little more deeply about some elements of my book.

I recommend Reading Lark for all of your book review needs–their recommendations are right on target.