Giveaway

November 6, 2012

New Excerpt! Giveaways! Inverviews! November! 9

by • Keri's Books, So new and pretty. • Tags: , , , , ,

Oh boy. I saw a tweet go by this morning that said only 6 more tuesdays until Christmas. Can you beileve that? I’m choosing not to, but I think I will kick up my christmas shopping. And decide on my Thanksgiving treats! Last year I didn’t bake much. I hope to change that this year.

First up…guess what I have! ARCs for Rough Tumble! I have to say. I didn’t realize this release was THIS CLOSE. As in…this weekend. I have the book posted at goodreads. You longtimers around here know the drill. Add the book to a shelf at Goodreads and for every ten of you who do, I’ll give away a copy until the book releases. And did I mention Chapter One is on my website here?

The AReCafe at All Romance Ebooks is offering a book-a-day give away and In Her Sights is the book today! I’m not all the ways you’ll be able to win, but I know if you RT this post, you’ll be entered.

Also today, I was interviewed at Scarberryfields Forever. If you’re feeling chatty, drop by and leave me a comment.

If you’ve been waiting for it,In Her Sightsis now at the iBookstore and Diesel! woot!

Some call her a killer.
Others call her a hero.

Lexie Olympia calls herself neither. She’s getting the job done because she can. A beloved philanthropist by day who’s nicknamed Melville’s Sweetheart, Lexie has the city wrapped around her little finger. Having been a victim in the past, left behind with the killer still on the loose, Lexie knows what it’s like to live with that fear. Instead of biting her nails over it, she takes action. Drug lords, gang leaders, con artists, kidnappers, serial killers, anyone who leaves behind innocent victims are marked on Lexie’s list.

When a neighbor leaves a stolen ancient dagger on her doorstep and skips town, Lexie’s left picking up the pieces. The police, a local private investigator, and a gang are all after this artifact and Lexie uses her nighttime persona, Artemis, to get to the bottom of things. Everything is going smoothly until she gets caught.

Read Chapter One HERE

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | ARe | Smashwords | Sony | iBookstore | Diesel

Add To Your Goodreads Bookshelf

Because I’m feeling shareful and all Holiday Spirity, leave me a comment. Winners choice of a Rough Tumble ARC (all I have of this is a .pdf) or In Her Sights (ecopy only as I’m still making time to learn paperback formatting and it’s not out in that format yet)

9 COMMENTS | Keri's Books, So new and pretty. | Tags, , , , , ,

September 20, 2012

Celebrating 9 Years! 33

by • Keri's Books, Now that sounds like fun. • Tags: , , , ,

Today marks 9 Years of Happily Ever After Marriage with my husband!

(this was us on our honeymoon)

Leave me a comment and I’ll pick 9 of you (if I get 9 comments at least!) to win an e-copy of my upcoming new release, In Her Sights. I have a busy weekend and week ahead, so comments will be open until next week! I’ll pick winners then!

 

Some call her a killer.
Others call her a hero.

Lexie Olympia calls herself neither. She’s getting the job done because she can. A beloved philanthropist by day who’s nicknamed Melville’s Sweetheart, Lexie has the city wrapped around her little finger. Having been a victim in the past, left behind with the killer still on the loose, Lexie knows what it’s like to live with that fear. Instead of biting her nails over it, she takes action. Drug lords, gang leaders, con artists, kidnappers, serial killers, anyone who leaves behind innocent victims are marked on Lexie’s list.

Local Private Investigator Clayton Addison finds there’s more to Lexie than meets the eye. Sweet on the outside, dark secrets that he’s uncovered underneath. Now that he knows what she’s hiding from the rest of the world, Clayton has to wonder if his time is ticking.

Coming October 16, 2012

Add To Your Goodreads Bookshelf (tip: for every 10 people who add my book to their goodreads shelf, I’ll give away a copy to one of you! Giveaways end when the book releases!)

 

recent photo of DH for Sidney. :)

 

33 COMMENTS | Keri's Books, Now that sounds like fun. | Tags, , , , ,

August 14, 2012

Let’s Play! 0

by • Keri's Books • Tags: , , , , ,

I have a new release! Rough Play is now out in the world and available! To celebrate that I am already back on my Roughnecks Blog Tour!

My stop today is at Deep In The Heart Romance and I’ve thrown my heroes into a game show! Drop by and leave me a comment and you’ll be entered for a chance at Ella Drake’s Desert Blade! It’s a Near-Future, Science Fiction Romance, Post-Apocalyptic — Novella!

Now a little on Rough Play!

Jacob Iverson has plans. Distant plans, but they do exist. Find the right woman, eventually settle down and do the whole “white picket fence” routine. But until eventually comes, he’s having fun with right now. Then he meets Flora, who blows him back a step. Or two. Suddenly his distant plans are rushing up to meet him…only not quite the way he imagined.

Abandoned at seventeen, Flora Simms has made her way through the world, found life and family in the form of two best friends. Everything is just the way she likes it. From life to love to relationships, she knows what she wants, how she wants it, and doesn’t care if anyone agrees or not. And what she doesn’t want is someone trying to tie her down with long-term plans. But Jacob Iverson brings images of the future to her mind, and heart. Jacob somehow knows what she needs and he’s hitting all the right spots. But can Flora give up her idea of independence to let him in?

$2.99 at Amazon Kindle | B&N Nook | Kobo | AllRomanceEbooks | TMP | Smashwords | Bookstrand

Coming soon in print from Amazon | B&N | TMP

Add to your Goodreads Shelf

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June 3, 2012

Week 4: The Roughnecks Blog Tour!

by • Ack!, Keri's Books, Uncategorized • Tags: , , ,

Well. This is it! The last week of The Roughnecks Blog Tour for Rough Ride. And what a ride this month long tour has been! I’m so excited for August when we get to gear up and do it all over again for Rough Play.

First up, winners from last week!

Liz Talley’s Vegas Two-Step goes to Yadira A.
Voirey Linger’s And She Liked it goes to flchen1
Ruth J. Hartman’s Better Than Catnip goes to bn100

Thanks everyone for commenting! If you won, email me at authorkeriford @ gmail. com! (no spaces)

Up this week!

Monday, June 4th – What’s On The Bookshelf with Jen Duffy with the last Play Peek

Wednesday, June 6th – At Everybody Needs A Little Romance. I’m sure this post will be juicy, awesome and written at the last minute since it’s at a group blog I belong to. :)

Thursday, June 7th – with Sorcha Mowbray and Friends-To-Lovers. One of my favorite troupes! And if you’ve read any of my novellas, you probably realize that!

Books this week are!

 

Thanks to these awesome authors for donating to my tour for this week’s giveaways!

I’ll post all the winners of these contests on my blog this Sunday. Tip: if the winner of one of the books fails to contact me, I’ll pick a new winner out of those subscribed to my blog (top right–enter your email).

 

And finally, a little about Rough Ride. Like to read before you buy? Chapter One is here

You do for family, no matter what. Lane Iverson knows that better than anyone. Harboring a secret about his mother’s death, Lane is counting the days until he finishes helping his brothers with some work and can head back to his hiding hole hours away. As long as he doesn’t have to face his three brothers every day, the guilt is easier to carry.

There is only one thing that can risk his plan. All of five foot tall with these deep eyes and a voice that shudders through him. The completely addicting, Gretchen Jones. She’s been watching him the entire time he’s been in town. With courage from her friends behind her, she confronts what she wants. To her surprise, that’s the easy part. Keeping her heart protected when she knows he’ll be leaving? Not so easy, but her only choice.

Amazon Kindle | B&N Nook | AllRomanceEbooks | TMP | Smashwords

**Comments are closed so not to confuse anyone. If you want to win a book, you have to post at the blog I’m visiting. My posts will go live on the day they’re listed. So if it’s Tuesday, don’t be looking for me on the blog I’m scheduled for on Thursday until it’s Thursday**

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May 28, 2012

Week 3: Play Peek! 8

by • Keri's Books • Tags: , , , ,

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Please, please, please have a safe and fun holiday! Eat plenty of barbeque and cake!

 

If you’ve been following along on my Monday’s Play Peek, here’s the 3rd installment. Next week will be the last one!

What is the Play Peek? Every Monday of my Roughnecks Blog Tour for Rough Ride I’m posting a section of chapter one of book two in the series, Rough Play (say that five times fast!…or maybe it’s not that hard after all.) To catch up, here’s  Week 1 and Week 2.

A dismissal. Other men would probably walk away. Jacob wasn’t like other men. He saw something he wanted and he wasn’t going anywhere until getting it. If life taught him one thing it was you want it, you gotta go get it. And he wanted. “Need any help?”

Her ponytail swished across her back, the loose, long blonde strands fell over her shoulder as she glanced around. “Thought we decided I was plenty capable?”

“We did. But if you finish early there’s time to take you to dinner.”

She propped her fists on her hips and met his gaze. Dear God by the spark in her eye and turn of her brow, he was just getting a taste of this woman. “Are you asking me out because you think I’m easy? Because I’m a plumber I probably don’t get a lot of dates.”

Direct. Even better. “If I thought you were easy, I wouldn’t have bothered with the dinner part.”

Her lips twitched. “Too bad.”

He followed. “Too bad what?”

“Too bad you didn’t take me for easy.” She glanced over her shoulder. “That I would have gone for.”

She was speaking his language now. He didn’t think it possible, but this woman just got better and better. “Well in that case.”

She chuckled, her finger tsk’d side-to-side in the air. “Nope. Too late. You’ve already shown your colors as one of those clingy relationship guys. We had a good thing going here. You ruined it with that date talk.”

Jacob Iverson. Clingy relationship guy. He nearly laughed aloud. Dear God, the people who would fall on their asses if they ever heard that. “Are you for real?”

She continued walking, chin up, steps sure and words sounding somewhat distracted. “Last time I checked I was, but if you wake up from a dream in a few hours I guess you’ll know.”

He was helpless but to follow. He didn’t follow women. Never even chased this much. By now there was either an unmistakable cold shoulder or an agreement for later. This was still uncertain. And exciting. Jacob was in desperate need of exciting to break up the nonstop work he’d been doing for the last seven months. Or pretending to do, if you asked his brothers. “So you could be the woman of my dreams.”

Her brow lifted. “Again with the clingy talk.”

He’d moved close enough to smell the scent coming from her. She’d squatted again and that little patch of skin was back on display. “Depends on the kind of dream.”

She laughed. The sound full and rich. “Touché.”

“What time and where should I pick you up? Or would you rather meet?”

“Maybe next time I see you at the bar I’ll just meet you around back in five minutes?”

Heat settled through his bones and sent a groan up the back of his throat. Hell. Yeah. See, he knew this girl was something different. “I’ll be at the bar when the door opens today.”

She chuckled. “I already have plans tonight.”

“Another day?”

She grinned and reached in her tool belt again. “Let me know if you wake up from that dream to people throwing rice at us or if we’re sweating. Then I’ll let you know.”

Throwing rice? He all but shook at the idea of marriage. Commitment. One woman and a thin sheet of paper binding them for eternity. Or at least through the length of divorce court. His skin itched and crawled. Like an allergy. Being allergic to the idea of marriage. Sounded about right. “I’ll do that. Will you be back here tomorrow so I can give you my answer?”

“Depends if I finish taking my measurements today.”

“How about a phone number just in case?”

Her brow arched and she pulled her tape measure from her hip. “How about we let fate decide?”

“Seems risky.”

“We’ve been passing each other for months. Fate is well on our side.”

He grinned. “True. What about a name so I know what to call out? Unless you like Diner Chick.” He glanced to her hips. “Or now that I’ve seen the belt, I can call you Tool Belt Chick.”

She shook her head and a humored huff of breath pushed out of her. “Are you saying the belt turns you on?”

He glanced down her body. He couldn’t find anything about her that wasn’t turning him on at the moment. Mud included. He nearly outlined her body with his hands, but resisted. “Will you wear it when we meet in the alley for hot sweaty sex just steps away from getting caught?”

He thought she might have shivered, but he wasn’t sure. It was hard to tell with the way her breasts pressed against the front of that tight shirt. She stroked a hand over the old leather of her belt. “I don’t wear it when I’m not working. Besides, it would wrinkle my pants.”

“Well there’s a simple solution to that.”

“What’s that?” A single shaped brow lifted.

“Don’t wear pants.”

 

Leave me a comment and you’ll be entered for a chance at Liz Talley’s Vegas Two-Step! US Only, print. Find out more on Liz at her website, Facebook and Twitter!

You do for family, no matter what. Lane Iverson knows that better than anyone. Harboring a secret about his mother’s death, Lane is counting the days until he finishes helping his brothers with some work and can head back to his hiding hole hours away. As long as he doesn’t have to face his three brothers every day, the guilt is easier to carry.

There is only one thing that can risk his plan. All of five foot tall with these deep eyes and a voice that shudders through him. The completely addicting, Gretchen Jones. She’s been watching him the entire time he’s been in town. With courage from her friends behind her, she confronts what she wants. To her surprise, that’s the easy part. Keeping her heart protected when she knows he’ll be leaving? Not so easy, but her only choice.

Amazon Kindle | B&N Nook | AllRomanceEbooks | TMP | Smashwords

 

 

 

8 COMMENTS | Keri's Books | Tags, , , , ,

May 27, 2012

Week 3: The Roughnecks Blog Tour

by • Ack!, Keri's Books • Tags: , , , ,

Not part of my blog tour, but visiting me during the middle of mine, the winner of Lucky In Love by Jill Shalvis goes to ClaudiaGC email me your snail mailing address!

Up next, Week 2 winners from The Roughnecks Blog Tour!

The winner of Stone Kissed by Keri Stevens from Melissa Schroeder’s blog is Shelley B.

Inez Kelley’s Turn It Up from Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews goes to Maria D.

Choice of Winnie Griggs backlist from my post at Arlene Hittle’s goes to Jackie Tessnair

Two Brothers by Christina Wolfer at Everybody Needs A Little Romance goes to bn100

Long-Distance Lovers by The Karens goes to Annie Nicholas

If we haven’t already been in contact, please email me at authorkeriford @ gmail. com (no spaces)

And the tour continues!

Monday, May 28th, I’ll be right here at my blog for the Week 3 Play Peek! (To catch up on the first chapter from the next book in the series, check the posts I made on Week 1 and Week 2)

Tuesday, May 29th I’m crashing Kaily Hart’s blog

Wednesday, May 30th I’ll be Babette James!

Books up for grabs this week are

Thanks to these awesome authors for donating to my tour for this week’s giveaways!

I’ll post all the winners of these contests on my blog this Sunday. Tip: if the winner of one of the books fails to contact me, I’ll pick a new winner out of those subscribed to my blog (top right–enter your email).

The book featured for this part of the tour is Rough Ride

I don’t know how long it will last, but Rough Ride is discounted at $2.69 at All Romance Ebooks!! Thanks everyone for picking the book up. It’s inched it’s way up to #78 in their Contemporary Romance Category. Go book go!

Like to read before you buy? Chapter One is here

You do for family, no matter what. Lane Iverson knows that better than anyone. Harboring a secret about his mother’s death, Lane is counting the days until he finishes helping his brothers with some work and can head back to his hiding hole hours away. As long as he doesn’t have to face his three brothers every day, the guilt is easier to carry.

There is only one thing that can risk his plan. All of five foot tall with these deep eyes and a voice that shudders through him. The completely addicting, Gretchen Jones. She’s been watching him the entire time he’s been in town. With courage from her friends behind her, she confronts what she wants. To her surprise, that’s the easy part. Keeping her heart protected when she knows he’ll be leaving? Not so easy, but her only choice.

Amazon Kindle | B&N Nook | AllRomanceEbooks | TMP | Smashwords

**Comments are closed so not to confuse anyone. If you want to win a book, you have to post at the blog I’m visiting. My posts will go live on the day they’re listed. So if it’s Tuesday, don’t be looking for me on the blog I’m scheduled for on Thursday until it’s Thursday**

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May 25, 2012

Week2 Round Up and Giveaway Reminders! 0

by • Guests!!!!, Keri's Books • Tags: , ,

Whoa, what a wild and crazy week!

Quick reminders on the goods! All Winners will be picked *SUNDAY* this week. I’ll be out of town most of Saturday, so you have an extra day. Remember, if a book isn’t claimed I’m picking a new winner out of those subscribed to my blog. Upper right hand corner, enter your email. If you don’t know, subscribing means that you’ll get every new post I make on this blog delivered to your email and nice and handy like!

Interview, Review and  a Giveaway with Jill Shalvis for Lucky In Love

Angela White’s Scenes of the Apocalypse #16

I’m at Melissa Schroeder’s for this week’s sneak peek at Rough Play with Stone Kissed by Keri Stevens to giveaway!

I was interviewed at Guilty Pleasures Blog by Slick and have a copy of Turn It Up by Inez Kelley

Pine Cone Bird Feeders, Crafts and winner’s choice of a Winnie Griggs backlist book at Arlene Hittle’s blog

Brotherly Love, plus a never-before-posted excerpt from Rough Ride on the Iverson boys and Two Brothers book giveaway by Christina Wolfer

Girls! I visited The Naughty Girls Next Door with best friends on my mind. Elloras Cave book by The Karens! Long-Distance Lovers by Karen Booth and Karen Stavali

I’m super pleased to see Rough Ride inched up in the #86 slot at All Romance Ebooks in the Contemporary Romance Category where it’s also been discounted down to $2.69! Thanks so much to everyone who’s picked the book up, added it on goodreads, left reviews and helped spread the word!

If you’re not into that newfangled tech business with digital reading, Rough Ride is now available for pre-order at B&N!!

AND…..that’s it. I’m ready for a nap!

 

Amazon Kindle | B&N Nook | AllRomanceEbooks | TMP | Smashwords

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May 21, 2012

Jill Shalvis: An Interview, A Review and a Giveaway! 17

by • Guests!!!! • Tags: , , , ,

Woot. Have to say, when Jill’s blog tour sign ups came through twitter, I jumped on that baby volunteering for an interview, review and a giveaway in hopes I’d for sure get picked!

Me: Out of all the Lucky Harbor books, what character do you most identify with? I LOVE Chloe. This is going to sound silly but when I was reading her I had bronchitis and had issues with breathing. I kept reading and thinking ‘I feel ya, honey’. If not for that, I’d be all about Tara.

Jill: I love Chloe but I probably identify most closely with Mallory of LUCKY IN LOVE. Always the good girl looking for a walk on the wild side. :)

Me: Ooh, yes. I so agree with you there! I hadn’t read Mallory when I asked that question, but I fell in love with her so fast. If you were going to be a main character of a book, what genre would you want to be in? (It’s all romance, so if you pick suspense, you know you’re going to live to the end. *wink*)

Jill:I’d want to star in an action adventure with a very sexy costar. But if we have to race through a jungle to save the world, I would like it to have no bugs.

Me: That sounds like fun if we can skip the snakes too! And for the writers out there, do you have a set number of words, time or amount that you write or edit each day?

Jill: I work full time. I don’t always keep track of the progress, I find that can make me panicky. I just go as long as the goings good.

*makes notes* Thanks for answering my questions, Jill! As part of jumping on your tour, I was also sent Lucky In Love to read. It was SO. GOOD.

I’m going to make this quick because there’s only so many ways you can say “This is super and you should read it!” But I will try. If you want the blurb, check out those handy buy links I pasted below. :D

Anyway, Mallory Quinn was tons of fun. She’s looking for adventure, looking to broaden her horizons. She’s the small-town good girl and she wants to be more. She’s…super and you should read the book because if you like fun heroines who want something more, then you’ll like Mallory.

Ty Garrison is not as adventurous. He’s a good bit tortured and recovering from an accident that was heck on his body and on his mind. His focus has been on recovering so he can get back to work. So much so that on facebook, he’s known as Mysterious Cute Guy. Let me tell you, remaining mysterious is hard to pull off in a small town—but with his focus on recovering, I can so see it working. What kind of accident is he recovering from? Well, it’s super and you’ll have to read it!

These two work so well together. They were really super and you’ll have to read it!

Okay, that last bit was only partly a joke. It is super, but the reason they work well together is Mallory really needs that Mysterious aspect Ty brings her. In turn, Mallory is levelheaded, but also such a doll face. She becomes a bright, unexpected spot in his life that has been filled with so much focus on trying to fix his body.

This was a sexy, emotional filled read. Truly, don’t take my opinion because it’s a super story that you should read and find out why yourself. Of all the Lucky Harbor books I’ve read (um, all of them?) this one really seemed to have the most emotional meat in it for me. There’s not a past between them or an inn to run or money to make. It’s just him and her, leaning on each other, working through their issues to a happily ever after.

Buy it in Print:

AmazonBarnes and NobleBooks-a-millionIndie BoundPowells Books

Buy it in Digital/eBook format:

Amazon KindleBarnes and Noble Nook

Don’t forget to leave me a comment! I have a copy of Lucky In Love and you want this book. Don’t argue. Just comment.

Jill’s big and crazy blog tour with giveaways, reviews, maybe another interview too (my definition, not hers. Yall should see the the list on this sucker!) is happening today at:

The Romance Reviews
Romancing The Book
Kim In Hawaii 
Mama Kitty Reviews
Books And MakeUp
Nikki Brandyberry
CrazyBookSlut

Visit Jill’s Website
Twitter
Facebook

17 COMMENTS | Guests!!!! | Tags, , , , ,

May 20, 2012

Week 2: The Roughnecks Blog Tour

by • Ack!, Keri's Books, Now that sounds like fun. • Tags: , , ,

First up! Winners from Week 1!

Through The Wall by me: KSears
According To Plan by Madison J. Edwards: Savannah Chase
The Past Came Hunting by Donnell Ann Bell: SlinkyDennis
Silent Partner by Renee Vincent: Cera Daniels

And from my guest blogger, Sidney Bristol, the winner is Cathy M

If we haven’t already been in contact, please email me ASAP or I’ll pick a new winner from those subscribed to my blog! authorkeriford @ gmail .com

Back to our progam. Yes–you’re getting this on Sunday, because tomorrow I have TWO very special guests here on my blog! I’ll give you hints:
Hint about my first guest: Angela. 
Hint about my second guest: Lucky.

So up for this week I’m very excited to visit:

May 21 – Melissa Schroeder for the Week 2 Play Peek! (see Week 1 Play Peek HERE)

May 22 – Guitly Pleasures I was intervied by Slick and she asked some great questions!

May 23 – Arlene Hittle I’m doing something that our hero, Lane, has seen Gretchen do. Because of this ‘thing’ is part of his reasoning for why she’s not the kind of girl for him.

May 23 – Everybody Needs A Little Romance

May 24 – The Naughty Girls Next Door

The books I’m giving away this week!

 

Winner’s Choice of:
I’ll post all the winners of these contests on my blog this Sunday. Tip: if the winner of one of the books fails to contact me, I’ll pick a new winner out of those subscribed to my blog (top right–enter your email).

And then again, my book–the reason all this is happening!

Like to read before you buy? Chapter One is here

You do for family, no matter what. Lane Iverson knows that better than anyone. Harboring a secret about his mother’s death, Lane is counting the days until he finishes helping his brothers with some work and can head back to his hiding hole hours away. As long as he doesn’t have to face his three brothers every day, the guilt is easier to carry.

There is only one thing that can risk his plan. All of five foot tall with these deep eyes and a voice that shudders through him. The completely addicting, Gretchen Jones. She’s been watching him the entire time he’s been in town. With courage from her friends behind her, she confronts what she wants. To her surprise, that’s the easy part. Keeping her heart protected when she knows he’ll be leaving? Not so easy, but her only choice.

Amazon Kindle | B&N Nook | AllRomanceEbooks | TMP | Smashwords

**Comments are closed so not to confuse anyone. If you want to win a book, you have to post at the blog I’m visiting. My posts will go live on the day they’re listed. So if it’s Tuesday, don’t be looking for me on the blog I’m scheduled for on Thursday until it’s Thursday**

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May 16, 2012

Welcome Sidney Bristol 18

by • Guests!!!! • Tags: , , ,

Hello! And thanks to Keri for allowing me to drop by here today on my whirl wind Mini Adventures tour. I’m celebrating my soon to be released Ellora’s Cave contemporary romance book, Personal Adventures. A big motivation for writing this book was to write people like those I grew up around. I’ve lived an odd life, so I’m told.

As a kid, my parents and I traveled all over the United States, Canada and into Mexico working rodeos. My mom was a trick rider and roman rider, and my dad was a world champion calf roper and team roper. You can imagine all the traveling this required. We were often in different states every week, sometimes twice a week, with only a day to get from one location to the other. I’ve seen most of the continent from the passenger side of a motorhome!

With all this traveling, and often having only one parent for – ah – guidance, I was an adventurous kind of kid. Who wouldn’t be when your parents daily do stuff that normal people would find crazy, just to earn a buck? There was a lot of playing cowboys and Indians, or Raiders of the Lost Ark, as a kid. Possibly the biggest gamble I did as a kid, was taking part in the junior rodeos. I got to be a rodeo clown and taunt bulls – with horns – as a ten year old. My friends and I dubbed ourselves as the Junior All American Trick Riders, after our mothers, and did pre-rodeo entertainment. There was no adventure my parents told me was off limits or impossible. They really nurtured me to believe that I could do anything, go anywhere.

For a long time in high school and college I worked with kids, because I didn’t want to let that spirit of wonderful adventure go. I have these crystal clear moments in my memory of riding one of our horses, bareback, through a stand of red wood trees that were hundreds of years old, eating a hand-picked Washington apple, and sitting on top of a hill, watching the clouds, maybe some cars or people. It’s a simple moment in time, but I remember I was looking for the next big adventure.

Most of the time I think of myself as a big kid still. I’m silly. I write ridiculous characters, like Carey in Personal Adventures, who aren’t completely mature or totally serious. There’s something fun about getting older and still acting a fool. I’m a firm believer that you never have to completely grow up.

I’m going to give away a copy of my book, Personal Adventures, and a $5 gift card to the winner’s choice of either Barnes & Noble or Amazon. To enter, answer the following question. The contest will end in 48 hours, and the winner will be chosen at random.

As a kid, I always wanted to be Indiana Jones when we played. That was my adventure icon. Who was yours?

It can never be said that Sidney Bristol has had a ‘normal’ life.  She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and belly dancing.

You can keep up with her by checking out her Website, where you can see her latest releases, blog and sign up for the newsletter. She’s active on both Twitter and Facebook
 

Personal Adventures

Coming May 18th from Ellora’s Cave.

Carey’s had the hots for his best friend and outdoor adventures coworker Elise for two years, but the timing has never been right. Now they’re both single and Carey wants to entice her into an adventure that’s about just the two of them. In the bedroom, in the hot tub, under the beautiful Colorado sky…

Elise doesn’t buy into the idea of love, but lust she understands. Carey’s friendship is important, but a relationship doesn’t fit into Elise’s five-year plan. She isn’t looking to repeat her parents’ mistakes.

With secrets coming out from under every rock and desire unchecked, this adventure might make more than the water on their rafting trips rush

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