UNFORGIVABLE comes out today!

For months I’ve been counting the days, and it’s hard for me to believe it’s finally here! Today is pub day for my new book, UNFORGIVABLE.

At first, Mia Voss thinks it’s just bad luck when her already lousy day ends with a carjacking. But what seems like a random incident is followed by another sinister episode. A DNA expert, Mia has made it her mission to put away vicious criminals. Suddenly, she’s become the target of one. And the only way to protect the people she loves most is to deliberately destroy her reputation and risk letting a killer walk free.

 Once, Mia trusted Detective Ric Santos. That was before Ric let his turbulent past ruin his chances with Mia, the sexiest, most intriguing woman he’s ever met. But he can tell when she’s lying—and when she’s scared. The key to catching a sadistic madman lies within a long-buried cold case that has haunted Mia for years.  Only she can uncover the truth, but first, Ric will have to get her to entrust him with her secrets . . . and her life.

 I’ve been thrilled with the reviews for the book, including this one from Publishers Weekly:

“The science is fascinating, the sex is sizzling, and the story is top-notch, making this clever, breakneck tale hard to put down.”

And from RT Book Reviews:

“Strong characters, a tight and complex mystery plot and nonstop action make Unforgivable a must read.”

I’ve been so excited about the Tracers series, and I’m happy to say I’ll be doing at least three more books, beginning in 2011. And for those of you unfamiliar with the series, it focuses on a high-tech crime lab, where forensic experts known as Tracers work with homicide cops and cold case detectives to solve the very toughest crimes. 

Readers often ask me if it’s necessary to read the Tracers books in order, and I tell them not to worry about it. The characters overlap from story to story, but each suspense plot stands on its own, so feel free to dive right in! I write the series this way because, as a reader, I’ve often “discovered” a new author by picking up a book in the middle of a series and felt a bit lost, then had to go back and start at the beginning.

I hope you will like UNFORGIVABLE! Writing it was an emotional rollercoaster for me and I’m so happy to finally get to the fun part: sharing the story with readers.

To celebrate the release of UNFORGIVABLE, I’m giving away a $25 VISA GIFT CARD. (Get started on your holiday shopping, if you haven’t already!) Just leave a comment for a chance to win!

And to read an excerpt of UNFORGIVABLE, just click here. http://www.lauragriffin.com/books/unforgivable.php#excerpt

Oh, also if you’re interested in other books in the series, my publisher is offering a free digital sample at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/40260625/Laura-Griffin-Sampler-Tracer-Series-and-Whisper-of-Warning

Happy reading!!

I debated writing this, but it seems to be the time of year to talk about forgiveness. So here it goes:

I’m having a hard time forgiving myself. So what brought this on? Last time I blogged here at MSW about my new puppy, Sadie. The dog I have wanted for years. And I got her, then fell deeply, madly, completely in love with her.

For three weeks, I took care of her. She filled my heart, but at the same time, I was getting run down and unwell. The details aren’t important, but I finally made the decision to return her to the rescue group. The profound grief was nearly unbearable. So bad, in fact, that my husband told me that a couple hours after taking her back, he had his keys in his hand, ready to go get her and bring her home. But he stopped himself before he got to the car, knowing that this was for the best for all of us.

The very next morning after giving up Sadie, I got more bad news on the professional side of my life. But I flat out didn’t care. I was in mourning for Sadie. Finally a few days passed, and I contacted the rescue folks to check on her. They assured me Sadie is fine, running around and playing with another puppy they paired her up with. She. Is. Fine.

But I’m not. The acute pain of missing her and worrying about her has eased some, but the guilt rides me with every breath I take. This is not who I am or who I want to be. I am a dog lover, but now I have to see myself as the woman who returned a puppy. None of this was in any way Sadie’s fault. It was, and is, mine. I simply wasn’t up to the task of caring her for at this particular time in my life.

It’s been just a tad over a week, and everyone else, it seems, forgives me. Now I just have to learn to forgive myself. It’s the only way I can be the wife, mother, friend, sister, and writer…all the things I need to be for other people in my life. All those people have been there for me as I went through this. Now I need to forgive myself so I can be there for them too.

Okay, now let’s really lighten up the tone here. Just to catch you up; I have two Wing Slayer Hunter books coming out in 2011. NIGHT MAGIC in April and SINFUL MAGIC in June. Here’s the cover for SINFUL MAGIC:

SINFUL MAGIC was one of the hardest books I’ve ever written, but I love this story, and I hope readers will too.

Leave a comment about self-forgiveness or the cover, and I’ll enter you in a drawing for a $15.00 Starbucks Gift Card.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to swing by and read the blog and leave a comment last week during a hectic holiday week — we appreciate it more than you know! Without further ado, here are the contest winners:

Rocki’s winner — Congrats Estella! You won EIGHT books from the RWA STAR authors! Send an email to roxannestc@cfl.rr.com — with your snail mail addy/contact info — and she’ll have the books sent to you in a few weeks!

Lori/Lorelei’s winners:

Wow! Lots of comments this week, which is way cool because I give away more stuff Thanks for sharing the great stories on how you spend Black Friday. For the record, I did not brave the teeming masses — we did hit Menards for new lights for our Christmas tree on Friday night and the parking lot was almost empty. I picked four winners — contact me — lorelei@loreleijames.com — and we’ll figure out in what form you want your $25 gift certificate!

Commenter #7 — Stephanie M!

Commenter #33 — Cheryl K!

Commenter #57 — Donna S!

Commenter #90 — Tiss T!

Sylvia’s winner (as selected by random.org) is Anne! Please contact sylvia@sylviaday.com with your mailing address and she’ll send you an ARC of Pride and Pleasure.

I was going to ask everyone to comment what they were thankful for, but as my daughter sarcastically said, “Oh, that’s so creative.” So instead, I’m going to ask for funny Thanksgiving stories. You know, something you were totally humiliated over or something so hilarious that even though it was awful you still laugh about it.

For example, on my husband’s side, the time his chocolate lab ate the apple pie. Or more recently, when my husband humiliated me by posted a picture of my turkey on facebook. The turkey I thought the store had gyped me on because it had no breasts but, in fact, I had cooked it upside down :/

But fair warning to all husbands who attempt to humiliate their wives by posting photos of their cooking failures: I have refused to cook another turkey. For Christmas, I bought a complete dinner from Bel Air, Easter was ham, and this Thanksgiving we’re having friends over and they’re bringing the turkey. I may never cook another turkey again!

So share your funny or humiliating stories if you’re online! I hope everyone has a wonderful day filled with good food, friends, and family. God bless!

Oops, bad blogger. It’s eight a.m. my time, which is sleeping in late for me — I rolled over after my husband got up for work at 5:30 — not even the smell of coffee roused me out of the warmth of my bed. Can’t really blame me since it’s like 6 degrees below zero here today.  However, it’s a veritable winter wonderland — snow is falling, both my college girls are home safe and sound (quite a shock to the Alabama girl’s system, a reminder of those frigid temps when she got off the plane yesterday) the fridge is stocked with good food, we’ve got a stack of movies to watch and we’re looking forward to spending Thanksgiving together, as well as heading to my folks’ house tomorrow for the big meal and being with them, my aunt and uncle, and my 101 year old grandma.

The holidays are tricky because for the last four years I’ve always had a book due around Jan. 1st. This year is no exception I will be hitting the keyboard hard starting Sunday when my nest is empty again. And this is also the busiest time of year in the gun business, so my husband is tired at the end of the day too. With two kids at college, and only one kiddo at home, the number of Christmas programs, parties and commitments  has been knocked to 1/3 of what we used to deal with this time of year. I’ll admit I miss it. Especially those grade school holiday programs, with the youngsters singing their heart out.

Now that the girls are older, I’ll also confess…I miss buying toys for Christmas. I loved having their Christmas wish lists on the refrigerator. Thanksgiving has always signaled the official start of the holiday shopping season. After the dishes are done and the guys are snoozing in front of the football game tomorrow, I’ll be poring over the circulars in the paper, from all the stores that are open at crazy hours to offer “good buys” –

That being said, I like to look at the sales, but I won’t actually haul my carcass out of bed at 2 a.m. to purchase wool socks for a buck or a DVD player for $10. We did it for a few years, back before places opened at such ungodly hours. Back when I desperately NEEDED to buy those Barbie dolls and sleds at reduced prices.  I feel for the people who work retail on Black Friday, who’ve barely digested their turkey and pumpkin pie and then have to report to work. A high five to all people working in retail!

So, in my blathering way, I’m asking MSW’ers this: Black Friday — love it or avoid it?

All comments will be thrown into the proverbial Santa Claus hat and are eligible for $25 gift card — to YOUR choice of online stores. And if we get more than 100 comments on this fine, snowy day that I’m in the giving mood, I’ll throw in another $25 gift card — 200 comments? I’ll double the holiday joy Spread the word!

Have a great, happy Thanksgiving everyone!!