Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Tanya Writes Down Some Things You May Not Know About Me...

These are the basics. I had a very happy childhood with two brothers in suburban Los Angeles but now live on the central coast on a nice little cul de sac surrounded by strawberry fields.




Married 40 years to my personal hero-fireman...my son and daughter are the best thing I have ever done. Ever. And now I’m gramma to two darling little boys, my new favorite thing. I taught English forever at the local Catholic school and now enjoy traveling with Hubs and volunteering at the local horse rescue.
This isn't me at the horse rescue but at one of my favorite wineries!

Hubs and me at Lake Louise, Banff, Alberta, last fall.
Now are some non basics I had fun thinking up. It was hard because I truly am the most boring person on the planet.

1. My husband and I went to high school together but were not sweethearts. In fact, he was Football Team Captain/Boyfriend of the Homecoming Queen/Head Cheerleader. I was a dork.

2. When we re-met at a Christmas party right after college. I picked "Deliverance" for our first date. He married me anyway. Sheesh.


3. I rarely wear lipstick but am pretty much addicted to lip balm.

4. I have a pathological terror of stepping on a down escalator without somebody in front of me.

5. I love and subscribe to Vogue and possibly would have gone Into fashion had I thought about it soon enough.

6. Hubs and I went to Disneyland for our honeymoon and now get season passes for the fam.

7. Hubs is a survivor of testicular cancer. Ladies, make sure your menfolk check themselves regularly! http://tinyurl.com/n4ualv3

8. My son is 6'6" and his two year old nephew wants him to dress up as a giraffe for Halloween.

9. I'm still bestest friends with Tina...since we were five years old!

10. I majored in Art in college. My favorite medium is oil painting. My favorite genre is Abstract Expressionism.

This is one of my paintings. Well, the only one on display at home. If you check out Kandinsky and Gorky, you might see their influence.
11. I have a fantasy football team named Wild Thang.

12. I am obsessed with the movie Frozen.  My grandsons and I all cuddle up with their Olaf dolls and watch and do the singalong.


13. I love Fall best of all, but hope to get my little guys to real snow this Christmas, what else? To build a snowman. With our niece living near Lake Tahoe...it’s gonna happen. 

14.  Louisa May Alcott's Jack and Jill is my go-to book when I need a hit of emotion. The chapter, A Sweet Memory--when the kids’ friend Ed dies suddenly, takes my breath away with its simplicity and spare beauty.

15.  Visiting her home, Orchard House, in Concord MA was awesome!




That’s pretty much it...other than the third book in my Lawmen and Outlaws Trilogy just got released! Outlaw in Love! Although the first two books are sensual, this is a sweet romance because...outlaw Ahab Perkins fancies himself in love with a...wait for it. Nun. A nun with a a price on her head. What? Throw in an abandoned little girl and a kindly sheriff and, well, you’ll be head over heels just like not-Sister Teresa.

In case you wanna find out, I’m giving away either a pdf or Kindle copy today so PLEASE leave a comment.

Thanks for setting a spell with me today!

Ahab came to sit beside her, and Teresa suddenly realized how she’d missed him at her side. Just these last few minutes. Her, a nun who should have no such thoughts. Even it was all pretense. Besides, he was an outlaw with a price on his head. Same as her. Whoever found him would find her, too.

The thought brought on a sudden tear.

And a sudden fear. How much was her head worth these days?

His chest still plunged into itself once in a while like he hadn’t yet recovered all the air he needed. Some of the breathlessness, she reckoned, might be the remains of getting shot at this morning but likely he’d lived through such antics before. Her own heart still danced macabre when she thought about their circumstance just an hour ago.

“I’m thinking...” He started slow and didn’t look at her, kept his eyes on the shrinking flickers of the fire. “Found a saddle in the barn. Spade, too. Think I might take one of those horses--“ He pointed to the corral. “--and head over to....” He paused for a long while. “Head over to Nitro and bury him proper. Get the rest of my own gear. Reckon I could leave a pearl or two at this place for purchase. Maybe some food, too. Saw a smoke house.”

“You’d leave me here alone?” Teresa all but shrieked. Dread drenched her. She might have lived in Arizona these past years, but she was foremost a city girl. Her heart sank when the truth hit her. “Oh, I get it. You’re leaving me behind. Like your gang leaves folks behind when they’re too much trouble.”

His face turned that handsome purple she’d seen before. “Not doing any such thing. Reckoned you could wait for me here and rest up some. It’s been a hard trudge. Reckon you’re ankle’s a tad sore.” His voice turned so low she could barely hear him. “I know how to treat a lady.



Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Tanya Writes About Sisters...one more time.

Sorry to get here late. Life is exploding around me. And I gotta say, here we go again. A reprise of my current release. Two stories in one, and all for only two dollars. Quite a bargain.

http://tinyurl.com/q2zb3bq

And to make all of this even better, Sisters already gained me a Best Selling status.  Be still, my heart, and thank you, God.

Anyway...Her Hurry-up Husband was released in a Mail-Order-Bride anthology a while back, and features Omaha  debutante Elspeth Maroney who needs a husband just for one month, after leaving her rat of a bridegroom at the altar. With good reason.. So off she goes to Miss Mamie's Hearts and Hands Club to find a mail-order one. Only handsome Colorado rancher Hezekiah Steller wants a wife for life... and won't have it any other way. Sigh.

Upon acquisition of HHUH,  my editor said, wow, we gotta get Ellie's sister Judith away from their awful mama. So...Her Thief of Hearts was born in time for last February's Valentine collection. Indeed, we have socialite Judy, an adorable orphan, her sister Elspeth's rat of a spurned bridegroom, the sisters' former governess...all stuck together on a speeding train in a Nebraska blizzard that gets held up by bad boy outlaw, Black Ankles...only it's not Black Ankles at all,  but the Colorado cowboy 

In conclusion, Black Ankles himself finds love and redemption in Her Holiday Husband, my contribution to PRP's 2015 Christmas anthology. Which yes, involves both a Mail Order Bride AND a Mail Order Groom. So stay tuned...

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