How can Thanksgiving be coming so soon?!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Looking at the calendar today and seeing that date literally took my breath away.

We’ll be just fifteen this year, as part of the family will be traveling to a warmer climate, and another is staying home rather than risk exposing their littles to a lot of people during the cough and cold season. It’s always such fun cooking side-by-side with everyone, so I will miss that!

So now I’m thinking about what I can make the day before, or make even earlier and freeze, so dinner can be done on time.

What sort of thing do you traditionally make at Thanksgiving? Do you have any ideas about making things ahead or keeping it simple?

Leave a comment on this blog post, and you will be entered in a drawing for a free copy of A DANGEROUS MOVE!

Oh, and by the way, I have a new book out this month!  Dangerous Storm, a clean romantic suspense, is set in one of my favorite places on Earth.   It’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited or just $3.99 to buy.

You can find it here under the BOOKS tab or simply find it on Amazon.  <HERE>

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the USA!

Roxanne

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Everything was fine. And then…

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by
Everything was fine. And then…

Do you have certain events that you look forward to every year? For me, it’s the annual Novelists Inc. conference in September.

On the last day, I know I’m going home with invaluable new information that will help the business side of writing during the coming year.  The chance to hear so many wonderful speakers and learn about the latest updates about the industry is a phenomenal experience. I take copious notes!

But there’s also the personal side—the delight of seeing writer friends from all over the country. People I’ve known for many years, now.  With Facebook and emails, many of us keep in touch. But the chance to visit in person is so much better.  Now I miss those conversations and I’m already looking forward to next year!

We were all at the Tradewinds Resort on St. Pete’s Beach for a week, then most of us left.

But just days later, Hurricane Helene hit the area and caused widespread damage far beyond Florida’s border as well. My heart is breaking for everyone who was in the path of this monstrous storm. Were you or your loved ones affected?

I LEARNED SOMETHING IMPORTANT!

I was at a loss over how I could help with disaster relief from my home in the Midwest. Which charities would provide the best relief, without consuming a large share of donations for their own operating costs?

Then a friend pointed me to CharityNavigator.org.

I zeroed in on North Carolina, and donated to the Asheville Human Society, Samaritan’s Purse, and World Central Kitchen, which all had 100% ratings. And I could easily donate right on that website, using Paypal (which always makes me feel safer than sharing my credit card number across the internet.) Check it out!

Dangerous Storm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are looking for some distraction from all of  the news, I have a new book coming out on November 12th  in my Northern Pines Suspense series.

DANGEROUS STORM (not about the hurricane—this book takes place on the North Shore of Lake Superior) is available for pre-order.  CLICK HERE to learn about it, and to pre-order so you don’t forget! ?

Leave a comment on this blog  and you will be entered in a drawing for a FREE copy of DANGEROUS PAST, the first book in my Northern Pines series.

Blessings,

Roxanne
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Things that go bump in the night…

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Have you ever done something that ought to be in a book?

If I wrote horror fiction books instead of clean romantic suspense, I would have ended up with some good research during a family trip! 

The Airbnb rental we stayed in was lovely, a home that could be featured in a magazine. We were awed by how beautiful the house was inside, with a formal dining room, high ceilings, two bathrooms, and a totally updated kitchen. It looked perfect. And it was, until…

The lights began brightening, fading, brightening, fading.  They’d work normally for hours, then start this routine again. The microwave abruptly snapped and blew out. The air conditioner stopped working. 

Next,  one of the toilets quit working…and then a light fixture hanging from the high ceiling suddenly sizzled and went out with a POP.  

For the final hurrah, the night before we checked out, I reached up to place a single cup in a cabinet, and the entire, long, heavily loaded shelf of glassware collapsed. 

As if on a children’s slide at a park, all of it sped toward me, the weight of it unstoppable, shattering on the counters, stove, sink, and floor, breaking plates and glassware on the shelf below as well. If I hadn’t been wearing shoes, I would have been marooned in a sea of broken glass!

I don’t believe in poltergeists or other paranormal activities, but looking back, the stay sounds like something out of a horror story, where the travelers end up in a perfect place that’s too good to be true, and then things start to happen. LOL! 

Have you ever had a weird experience like this?

I have a new release this month, that–by sheer coincidence–involves some events in an eerie old Victorian house!

CLICK HERE to learn about DANGEROUS SECRETS. 

The last thing she’d expected was to see her husband back in town.
He’d wanted to start a family. Jill wanted to wait. Just for a while, so she can establish her medical practice in this small town. But in the midst of that uncertainty, he’d simply walked out.  Or was it really that simple? Maybe not…

Can there ever be hope for a second chance?
Maybe. But now, an unknown enemy’s threats are escalating against them both—an enemy determined to see them die.

And then one night changes everything…
Their eerie old Victorian home is shrouded in mystery from events long, long ago.  Can that mystery help save them both?

It is FREE on Kindle Unlimited, and at a low price for those who prefer to buy.

Leave a comment here,  you’ll be entered to win a free copy of any title in my Northern Pines Suspense series.  Good luck!

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Unexpected blessings…and a free book drawing!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Have you ever made plans, then found out that they turned out far better than you’d expected?

My daughter and her husband needed to be right on the Gulf Coast for nine days in mid-July.


I was delighted to join them and help with their newborn and two-year-old, especially needed during the times when Daddy was working.  Because who wouldn’t want extra grandma time?

But I wasn’t looking forward to stifling heat and oppressive humidity.  To this gal from the Upper Midwest, how else could it be in Southern Mississippi?

But oh, those were lovely days. The heat and humidity built every day, then the heavens opened in the afternoon. We loved to watch the rain from the porch swing, as we drifted back and forth with the sleeping baby, and had precious hours to leisurely converse, while Daddy took the two-year-old to the wonderful indoor children’s train museum in Gulfport, or to lovely parks, the beach, and splash pads in the area when the sun was shining.

After those rains, the temperature would cool off for lovely afternoons, then for balmy evenings back on that porch swing, lulling the baby to sleep and talking some more. 

Every moment was a treasure. And ooh..did I mention the wonderful bakeries is this area?!

Have you had plans turn out much better than you’d ever expected?

 

In my new clean, small-town romantic suspense, DANGEROUS SECRETS, are second chances ever possible when one thinks everything has been lost?

CLICK HERE to find out more, and to order!

                        ~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Leave a comment  by clicking “Comment”, and you will be entered in a drawing for a free e-book copy of any of my books released within the past three years!
To see all of those titles, CLICK HERE.

 Wishing you all my best for a wonderful summer,

Roxanne Rustand

 

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New release: DANGEROUS MOVE, and a prize drawing!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

 

A NEW RELEASE, and a prize drawing!  

Is your summer starting off as quickly as mine? It seems like the time has flown!

Part of that is because we had a new grandbaby in May.  She’s already out of newborn size!  I spend a lot of time preparing meals for our daughter’s family to help them out, and then adore spending as much time there as I can.

And then there was a book deadline, too. It had been well edited and proofed, and I had gone over it dozens of times, But at the last minute, to my dismay, I found a small timeline issue.

Sounds like a simple fix, right? Well, nope. Not always. Because if even a small part of the plot needs work, it can end up being hard to fix. Plot threads can run throughout a story like octopus tentacles…and some can be hard to find.  I’m so glad that I discovered it! All writers work so hard to create stories readers will enjoy, and we don’t want to let our readers down in any way.

DANGEROUS MOVE (release date 6/18/24)  on Amazon, is FREE on Kindle Unlimited or just $3.99 to buy.

CLICK HERE  to read more about it and to buy.

Here’s a quick blurb:

Has she just made the worst decision of her life?

Her husband walked out on her and their three, recently adopted children–children who desperately need a sense of security.

The children are her world, and she will do anything to keep them safe.
So now she has moved far away to a quaint small town in Northern Wisconsin, to start her new career as the administrator of Blackberry Hill Hospital.

But all is not what it seemed when she took the job.

The hospital death count is rising. And when a man from her past shows up, she must keep a dark secret from him…or risk everything she holds dear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Leave a comment on this post at  https://roxannerustand.com/blog   (where you will see this same post)  and you will be entered in a drawing for a free e-book from my backlist.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer!

Roxanne Rustand
https://roxannerustand.com

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Summer sunshine, plans…and free books!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Despite recent severe weather in our state, we now have brilliant sunshine, temps in the seventies, and—after several years of severe drought—the grass is green, and perennials are blooming. And now…the busy summer begins! What are your plans for this … Continue reading →

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An Easter weeked in three states…and a drawing for a free book!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Did you travel anywhere for Easter, or were you at home?

Usually, our family holiday celebrations are at our house, and I do love all the food prep and having everyone gathered under our roof.  We might have 20-25 people, and it is such a joy to have them all here.

But this year was quite a change! On our way to Minnesota, we dropped off Easter baskets for our two-year-old granddaughter at our daughter and son-in-law’s home in this state.

We spent a Good Friday in the Twin Cities (MN) to take my brother out for his birthday dinner. Then we drove onward to Wisconsin for church and Easter dinner with our oldest son and his family. What fun!

After my parents passed away, my husband and I then became the hub for holiday celebrations, so such holiday travel is now rare. I just pray that our kids and their families will still gather for at least some of the holidays when we are gone. It’s tricky though, since they all have in-laws to visit as well.

How does your extended family handle the various holidays?

I just had a brand-new release this week, FINAL TRUTH.

A lot of you helped me decide on the cover art, and now here it is!  I really enjoyed writing this one, as the llama definitely added a different dimension.   🙂

CLICK HERE to see it on Amazon and read about it.
I hope you will enjoy it!

Leave a comment, and you will be in a drawing for a free copy of FINAL WITNESS, another book in this series.

 

Wishing you all my best for a wonderful spring,

Roxanne Rustand

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Happy Easter! And a question: what’s in a name? Roxanne Rustand

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Easter blessings to you all!

This season is filled with such joy and hope, as we move through the weeks of Lent toward the suffering Jesus endured and his glorious resurrection.

It has even more meaning to me this year. I was adopted at three and have been a lifetime church member. My parents were told by the social worker that I had been baptized and they believed it. But was I? There were no documents, and I always wondered.

So this winter, when our Lutheran church had a weekend of open baptism when anyone could walk forward on the spur of the moment, I did. And now I know. I felt such joy at that moment, and now feel so blessed and reassured!

On a completely different note, after I find and buy books by my favorite authors on Amazon, my gaze always drifts to the rows of book covers below the book’s description, called “Products related to this item” and “Based on your recent views.” Then farther down to “Books you may like.”
Do you do this, too? Just by looking at a cover, book title, and subtitle, I often find books I want to explore.

I know those details have been carefully planned by the authors (at least those who are experienced) to show a great deal about the book–and avoid misleading buyers into a purchase they might regret. Even the font used on a cover can convey useful information. Is it fun and swirly? Intense?

I was so naive when I first started publishing with Amazon.

I found photos of lovely flowers or landscape scenes, and asked my cover artist to use them.

I also came up with what I thought were pretty titles, without a thought about actually conveying what the book was about. And I didn’t know how to write book descriptions for Amazon, either.

When I look back at my abysmal sales during those early years, I actually feel gratitude. No one would have guessed those books were romantic suspense! And if readers bought them expecting to read a nice contemporary romance novel, they would have been deeply disappointed.

It’s all about branding, really. A way to convey information about a specific book, a book series, and also about the author.

For example, I write both Christian Romantic Suspense and Clean Romantic suspense, so I use those labels as my book subtitles. The book titles themselves are meant to convey that the book is a suspense.

If you do a search on Amazon for any category, such as “Top 100 Christian Romantic Suspense,” you can see how authors do this. Clarity is important, for the best reader experience!

My brand (my promise to readers) is that in addition to suspense and romance, they will find a warm thread involving family relationships, and a thread of faith–but with a lighter touch in the books labeled “Clean romance.” And I always include an animal of some kind that makes a difference to a character in the story.

I hope including that animal on my book covers visually alludes to deeper emotion and warmth, as opposed to covers promising a gritty or far more intense read. Usually, it’s a dog. My new release is just a bit different–with a nosy llama!

Here is a quick link to FINAL TRUTH in case you would like to buy or just take a look.

What are your thoughts about book titles and cover art? Do they help spur your interest in looking at a book’s Amazon page, or do you mostly go by author names?

Wishing you all a happy Easter!

Roxanne Rustand

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Reaching the end…

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Do you ever reach the last book in a series, or the end of a series on television, and wish it would go on and on? 

I’ve been watching the tenth and final season of Doc Martin on public television. The doc is a curmudgeonly sort with an abrasive lack of people skills, but the series has been filled with humorous characters and subplots that I have come to love and I will miss them when the series ends.

Another series (among many PBS shows I enjoy) I am grateful for is All Creatures Great and Small.  Being an avid animal lover, this series has been a joy. The setting is a delight as well, because I love reading fiction set in Ireland, Scotland, and England. The series is still running, and I wish it would never end. But that time will come, too.

What about you? Do you have some favorite, ongoing television series to recommend on television or a streaming service? I would love to hear about them! 

As a writer, writing the final book in one of my Christian Romantic series is a little sad, too. Creating characters and writing multiple books in that world becomes part of me–as if some of those imaginary folks have become friends.

DEADLY EVIDENCE will be released on January 30th. It is the fourth and final book in my DEA Agents series, and is available for preorder HERE. The good thing, is that the books can be read in any order. So if you missed the other releases this past fall, it’s not too late!

Leave a comment, and you will be entered in a contest for a free e-book copy of  DEADLY BETRAYAL (read about it HERE.)

I hope you had a wonderful, blessed Christmas and that the coming year will be a blessing as well.  

All my best,

Roxanne Rustand
www.roxannerustand.com

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Momma told me there would be days like this!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Have you ever had a crazy day when everything went wrong? When you had a dozen things to do, but then disruptions began to pile up, and the clock was ticking, ticking, ticking…

Sometimes, I find myself humming to an old song with lyrics similar to what my own mother used to say in jest.

Crazy days happen often enough in my daily life, because I have a tendency to write long to-do lists and then find that most of the tasks take longer than expected. That, I can work around. But when it comes to book deadlines, the stress is real.

This past week I needed to do a final proofing of DEADLY BETRAYAL, a new Christian Romantic Suspense book being released on November 14th. CLICK HERE to see it on Amazon and to buy on sale during its release day!

Yes, I should have had this all completed much earlier. And I thought I had. The book had been finished, then edited, and re-edited under five sets of eyes. Five! A main editor, a line editor, a copy editor, a final proofing editor at the very end, and me (again).

The content was all mine, of course, but editorial steps take care of things like inconsistencies, timeline problems, and even missing words in a sentence. How easy it is to think about a two or three-word while typing, yet not actually get it typed!

So just before submitting DEADLY BETRAYAL, I took one last, painstaking trip through the manuscript again, line by line. It all looked good. I set it aside for a day, then went through it again, and found an error! A comma instead of a period that had eluded us all. I fixed it, double-checked, and now the book is on Amazon. I am so relieved to have it done!

When you think of writers who are writing the books you like to read, it might seem like it’s easy for them: they just need to dream up a plot and characters and then it will all fall into place, right? But it’s actually a lot of work, even after the last page is written.

But my author friends and I do it because we love the joy of writing, and love sharing our stories with readers.

Have you had any crazy days when everything just piled up and drove you crazy? Leave a comment, and you will be in a drawing for a free Kindle copy of DEADLY NOEL (a book in the same DEA Special Agents series as DEADLY BETRAYAL.)

Best wishes and a Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Roxanne Rustand
USA TODAY Bestselling Author

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