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Cold Snap!

I love winter. I love the cold, the rain, bundling up in blankets and thick socks. It doesn’t snow where I live, but it does get cold, and that’s okay with me!

It’s also a time for Christmas books.

There’s a plethora of Christmas books, mostly coming out in October and November, with pretty covers and heartwarming messages. I don’t write pretty and heartwarming, but I had a Christmas book idea … the Kincaid family reunion is threatened by murder. I wanted to call it KILLER CHRISTMAS, but my publisher nixed the idea. They feared it would limit the sales opportunities of the book. And in some ways they’re right — it wasn’t *quite* a Christmas story. 🙂

Still, COLD SNAP got a pretty blue cover and honestly, it’s one of my favorite Lucy Kincaid covers. Not because it’s pretty per se, but because the elements all work together. It came out last week and I just learned that COLD SNAP hit #12 on the NYT mass market list, #21 on the e-book list, and #35 on USA Today.

THANK YOU READERS!!!!

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Tagged with: Allison Brennan, bestseller list, books, Christmas, Cold Snap, Lucy Kincaid, Max Revere, novellas, reading, sliderpost, winter
Posted in Allison Brennan, Writing

Going Off the Grid

I would have been one of the first ones to tell you that I can do without all the technological toys.
For years, I had a cell phone but I only turned it on when I wanted to make a call or check to see if I had a message. I had few messages since everyone knew my cell phone was usually out of juice.
Now I have more of the toys – iPhone, iPad, Mac laptop – but I still believed I could live without them – at least for a week.
That’s how long my husband wanted to go off the grid. The idea was to take our small camp trailer and go up into the mountains. My husband is an avid bird hunter and grouse season was about to open.
While he took the dogs up into the mountains chasing birds, I planned to do research by reading the books I’d picked up, work on finishing one book and starting the next.

I was planning to do the writing on my AlphaSmart, a word processor that works on three double “A” batteries. I use my AlphaSmart (they are now called Neo) even with all the other toys. I figured I would connect it to my computer when I got home. (I ended up writing 30 pages.)
The first day was great, the surrounding beautiful scenery, the clear, cool mountain air, the sound of the nearby river. I sat in a comfortable chair under the camper awning and researched for my next book, wrote, daydreamed and even read an entire novel.

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Tagged with: B.J. Daniels, books, reading, sliderpost, writing
Posted in B.J. Daniels, Writing Life

Are You Being Gaslighted?

I was researching my latest book, when I stumbled across something scary — “gas lighting.”

If you aren’t familiar with the term it comes from a 1944 MGM movie called Gaslight. In it Ingrid Bergman is being “gaslighted” by her husband played by Charles Boyer. Her husband wants her expensive jewelry. In order to get it and get rid of her, he makes the gas lights flicker when he is out of the house. When she tells him about it, he accuses of her overreacting, of imagining it, of being…crazy.

While gaslighting is fun to use in a book, what is scary is that the technique is so common that psychatrists now use it to describe certain relationships. These are usually male/female in which one mentally abuses the other. Apparently it is quite common.

One partner, usually the male, gives false information to the female to make her doubt her own reality. She feels him pulling away. He assures her she is imagining things. She sees him being overly friendly with another woman and asks about it. He says she is overreacting, that she’s too sensitive, that she’s…crazy.

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Tagged with: B.J. Daniels, books, gaslighting, reading, slider post, sliderpost, writing
Posted in B.J. Daniels, We Can't Make This Stuff Up

Quilting and Writing: A Creative Mix

About four years ago, I took a quilting class. I’d always known how to sew – or at least I thought I had. Quilting was a real eye-opener. I found out just how little I knew about the craft.

But what hooked me was the creative part. It reminded me of writing. I could start with a blank slate and make anything I wanted.

Oh yes, some of my creations reminded me of my first attempts at writing. But I was hooked. I loved the fabrics and colors and the freedom.

During the class we followed a pattern. After the class, I thought I could approach quilting the way I did writing: By the seat of my pants. I can laugh now. Fabric isn’t as forgiving as words.

Since then, I’ve learned to use a pattern and actually read the directions. When I got too cocky and thought I knew where the quilt was going – much like I do with my stories – I got into trouble.

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Tagged with: B.J. Daniels, creative enterprises, quilting, reading, sliderpost, writing
Posted in B.J. Daniels, Home Decor & Design

Lisa Gardner Giveaway!

I’ve been a fan of Lisa Gardner since I read THE THIRD VICTIM in 2001.

THE THIRD VICTIM wasn’t Lisa’s first book, but it was the first book of hers that I read. I became a life-long fan and Lisa Gardner is one of the few authors I consistently buy (in hardcover!) and read.

But there’s another reason why THE THIRD VICTIM is close to my heart: it was one of the books that inspired me to write.

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Tagged with: Allison Brennan, Catch Me, Dutton, favorite authors, International Thriller Writers, Lisa Gardner, reading, romantic suspense, sliderpost, The Third Victim, thrillers, Touch & Go, writing
Posted in Allison Brennan, Contests & Promotions

Featured Blog Posts

Blog Archives

Cold Snap!

Going Off the Grid

Are You Being Gaslighted?

Quilting and Writing: A Creative Mix

Lisa Gardner Giveaway!

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