BOOK UPDATE: "Paradise Down" is now available!

WOOT! It's finally here - my new novella, Paradise Down, for the Lei Crime Kindle Worlds is available on Amazon. I hope everyone will give this little mystery a read and leave a review. Hey, it's only $1.99.

Aloha Nicholás!  But will this be a hello or a goodbye?

When Lucia Santerez returns home to Hawaii to help her brother Nicholás with his new dive shop, she learns Nicholás has disappeared--and someone doesn't want him found. 

Enlisting the aid of hunky vacationing firefighter, Jared Stevens, gets them the wrong kind of attention. They discover what lies under the water off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kaua`i could make you rich or get you killed.

For readers of the Lei Crime series, this story occurs shortly after Fire Beach.

Now I get back to work on Almost a Touch, book three in my Klondike mysteries!

Ciao for now!

Kindle Fire HD - Kids Edition!!

Wow! What a great idea for Christmas gifts for kids!

All-new Fire HD tablet just for kids—with 1 year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, Kid-Proof Case, and a 2-year worry-free guarantee—up to $95 in savings

Built for even the toughest kids—Enjoy the peace of mind with an unprecedented 2-year worry-free guarantee—if they break it, we'll replace it for free. No questions asked!

PS. Lots of great choices for us adults, too, including a Kindle Fire for $99! Prefer an e-ink reader? Check out the wide variety of Kindle Readers.

Heading Back to the States!

Just a quick note to all our family & friends in the US. We will be heading back the end of August for a two month visit.

We have a lot going on including my attending the Writer's Police Academy just after Labor Day weekend. We will visit family in Florida first, then Stu heads to our property to ready the rig for our drive to MD while I'm at the writing conference.

We will spend most of our time in the MD/DE area both visiting family/friends and attending to our annual medical/dental/vision appointments. We will also do the annual Red Helmet Ride and Stu is going to the Dover Races (benefiting the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation) with his buddies.

Then we reverse the process, dropping off the rig, visiting family in GA and then to Miami to fly back to Ecuador. Phew, I'm tired already.

Oh, two more things - today is the LAST DAY to get a FREE COPY of my romance novel Home Again, currently rated as #1 on the Amazon Free Inspirational Romance list.

AND, if you haven't signed up for my newsletter, now would be a good time. The next issue comes out Aug 15th and tells you about the upcoming big sale on Not a Whisper, my first mystery novel. [Tell your friends, too!]

Thinking about buying a Kindle Reader or Fire?

If you've ever considered buying a Kindle Reader or Kindle Fire but were worried about paying the full price in one payment, now might be the time to re-consider. Amazon has started a payment plan that removes some of the pain. Of course, this could be the perfect time to upgrade as well!

The plan is simple - Make your first payment of 20% at checkout. Pay the remaining balance in four equal monthly installments.

• No interest
• No finance charges
• No hidden fees
• No credit check or application required

One caveat: This offer is limited to one Kindle e-reader or Kindle Fire tablet per customer.

So what do you need to do? Simple!

First step - pick your Kindle by reading the specs for each.

• Basic Kindle Reader
• Kindle Paperlight
• Kindle Fire (multiple models)

Final step - go to THIS PAGE to start the purchase process. Of course if you already know which model you want, go directly to THIS PAGE to start the purchase process. Enjoy!

And of course, if you need some books on your new Kindle, I hope you will consider some of mine as well as friends Nick Russell, Brandon Hale, Russell Blake, as well as your current favorite authors!

Almost a week....

It's been almost a week since we last blogged but it feels longer. Why? Because we've been so busy! While we've gotten a lot done, there is still a lot to do before we leave town. But I am sure we'll get it done...the good thing is we do have a couple of days leeway. We hope to be with friends for Thanksgiving but if something holds us up, our cruise doesn't start until Sunday.

BIG news! The second book in the Klondike Mystery Series, "Barely a Spark", is now available in print as well as electronic. Check it out on Amazon. Great Christmas gift!

Friday we visit the Ecuadorian Consulate in Atlanta to pick up our Ecuadorian Visas...we're both excited! The biggest hurdle now is fitting everything into the trunks...really think we're going to have to scale some stuff back. Oh well, it all will work out!

A cold front is moving into the area tonight and tomorrow. Rain changing into snow flurries tomorrow with a high of 38 and a low of 21 (and we're usually 4-5 degrees colder for the lows). Brrrr.....

Kindles and Books and Reading, OH MY!

Give me a day off the motorcycle and I find all kinds of new things going on in the world.

First, my fellow RVing author, Nick Russell, has just come out with a new book, Dog's Run, and it's getting rave reviews. Check it out...I just bought it!

And while I was on the Amazon.com site, I discovered they have announced the new Kindle Fire tablets. Oh my! Here is what they had to say (straight from their website).

These are powerhouse tablets. We added the latest graphics engine, doubled the memory, and tripled the processing power with the most advanced 2.2 GHz quad-core processor. Our HDX displays bring together exceptional pixel density (up to 339 ppi), perfect 100% sRGB color accuracy, improved brightness, and dynamic image contrast. You also get up to 11 hours of battery life—17 hours when you're reading.

Even the largest new Kindle Fire—the 8.9"—is startlingly light. We re-imagined our design from scratch, with a new magnesium unibody and molded glass-nylon alloy. At just 13.2 ounces, it's 34% lighter than the previous generation.

Kindle Fire HDX is packed with hundreds of updates, including new email, calendar, and productivity apps, X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, and—in addition to streaming—you can now download Prime Instant Videos and watch them offline.

Kindle Fire HDX also introduces the revolutionary new "Mayday" button. With a single tap, an Amazon expert will appear on your Fire HDX and can co-pilot you through any feature by drawing on your screen, walking you through how to do something yourself, or doing it for you—whatever works best. Mayday is available 24x7, 365 days a year, and it's free.

Mayday is one of those things that really has to be seen—
check out our upcoming TV commercials.

In addition to all the above, we're taking another step forward in our mission to make it possible for anyone to afford a Kindle Fire. The all-new Kindle Fire HD has the same display quality and processing speed of last year's high-end models and comes in at the breakthrough price point of only $139.

Wow! I'm impressed, especially with the upgraded basic Kindle HD for $139. I paid much more for mine a year ago. Hmmm, time for an upgrade? ;)

Fast and Slow through New Mexico - Rt 66

First we have to say a big THANK YOU to Kevin and Nancy, owners of the Blue Swallow Motel, for a wonderful stay. We are glad we took everyone's advice and made reservations ahead of time. A step back into history, we were welcomed with open arms, hot coffee and personal service. We didn't make the evening campfire but Stu did run out with a couple of other guests and tried to get a few shots of the neon. Next time he'll use a tripod. ;) Oh, and it sure was nice to be able to park the bikes in the garage!

This morning we got routing advice from Kevin - due to the recent heavy rains some of the old Rt 66 is covered with water and mud. We also took his advice and got breakfast at the Kix 66 restaurant just down the street. The meal was so good we forgot to take a photo until we were almost done. Yum!

As we were gearing up to leave, THIS pulled in...sweet set-up!

We went through the rest of town before jumping on I-40. We exited at Montoya as directed and were quickly faced with this! A quick u-turn and we got back on the interstate for a bit longer.

I got a laugh at our gas stop - imagine yourself sitting down on the toilet and then LOOK where the toilet paper is mounted. LOL!

We stopped at Clines Corner for a break, browsed the gift shop and grabbed a little snack. Okay, dessert. At least I remembered to take the photo this time.

The rest of the ride was uneventful with a lot of it on the highway. The last 30 or so miles, from Moriarty to Albuquerque, was really enjoyable. By the time we arrived at our hotel, we were ready to strip off the layers we had worn (and needed) all day. Oh, and we got a giggle out of this little Vespa and it's stylish rider.

We've booked two nights here, I need to rest my weary body. LOL! We might take a ride up to the little town of Madrid (featured in the movie Wild Hogs) or may just relax. We plan to go to a movie in the evening. Then on Monday we press on westward!

On a side note, my second mystery novel, Barely a Spark, is selling well and I have also gained a lot of new readers of the first in the Klondike Mystery Series, Not a Whisper. Thank you to everyone who has bought and read (or plans to read) them!

Short day to Tulsa, OK - Rt 66

We took advantage of the extra day in Miami, OK to catch up on blogs, emails and Facebook. But we also took a quick ride (16 miles) back to Baxter Springs, KS, the town where I based both my short story, Lost and Found, and my novel, Home Again. It had been raining off and on but we grabbed a ride over during a break.

Unfortunately that break didn't last long enough for many local photos but we did take one outside the Cherokee Co. News-Advocate where we missed talking to the editor and one at the Johnston Public Library where I donated a copy of Home Again. We met Andrea Bresee, Assistant Director, plus the library cat!

We also nabbed a photo of the tribal fire station....

Then we got to meet Jack, the resident Cocka-Poo at the Microtel Inn & Suites, what a charmer!

We hit the road around 10:30 this morning, halfway geared up for rain. Eventually the rain got serious and we had to put on the rest of our gear. First photos of the day were of the "nine foot road", part of the original Route 66, now dirt and gravel and only 9' wide.

We stopped in Afton at the Afton Station/Route 66 Packards and took a LOT of photos. Here are a few...oh, and we had the owner, Laurel, sign our book (the one we got from Gary Turner back in Missouri).

Then we went back into the two garage areas where we were treated to vintage Packards, Citroen and Studebakers. They even had one of the early motorhomes made by Packard. [as always, click any image to enlarge and visit our SmugMug album for more photos]

We really enjoyed talking to the owners and a local visitor who proudly shared his "Cars" tattoos!

We took a short detour to see the totems and was rewarded with finding a diner style Route 66 mug in the gift shop which held its own treasures.

The last scenic pics are of the Blue Whale...we almost missed it so I sat on the side of the road while Stu u-turned to take the photos.

Once we left the Blue Whale, the rain started up in earnest. We had already donned our gear so we soldiered on until Claremont where we pulled into a Sonic for lunch (under cover parking). Of course as soon as we pulled in, the rain stopped.

From there it was a pretty straight shot to the west side of Tulsa and our Best Western for the night. By then the sun was shining brightly and the temps had moved from mid 70's to upper 80's (almost 90). Phew! Good time to stop....