WordPlay

Gene-deep satisfaction, that’s what a bargain is.

I am definitely a gene-carrier.

Since I got my Nook, I’ve discovered that I have a little thrill of interest in the boxed sets, or “bundled” books.  Partly it’s the savings…partly it’s the thrill of knowing in one fell swoop, I’ve gotten TWO (or three, or *gasp* four…) books to read.

*A pause to rub my hands in glee*

So you’d think I would have thought through the matter earlier. You know, the fact that I can offer books in this fashion.  Even with most of my fantasy backlist still outstanding!

So I DID.  I put Hidden Steel and Making the Rules together in a set of my action-romance books.

I know, I know.  No such genre, right? Well, those Bombshells never did fit into a nice neat category.  Yes, they’re romantic suspense.  And they’re contemporary suspense.  But they’re also action-oriented spy thriller kick-ass chick fun.  So there.

Besides, could I resist the chance at new graphics? No, I could not.  So YES!  Here it is!  Action Romance boxed set by ME!

HIDDEN STEEL ~ MAKING THE RULES
$4.49
Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/3kaentj
Nook: http://tinyurl.com/3ptj2jl
Smashwords: http://tinyurl.com/3dp6rko

Clever, strong, high-action heroines formed the backbone of the former Silhouette Bombshell lines from which these books came–a taste of Alias, Buffy, Xena, and Covert Affairs, including heroes who are strong enough to capture these wild hearts.

~~~

“HIDDEN STEEL is a pulse-pounding suspense…Full of mystery and interesting characters, HIDDEN STEEL will grab readers from the beginning and is a book you don’t want to miss.”

–Jennifer Bishop, Romance Reviews Today

“Mow your lawn, finish doing the wash, and walk your dog BEFORE starting this book!” — B&N Reader

“Another trademark Durgin, full of realism, deft strokes of humour (and pop culture), plenty of sizzle, compassion, action, and a heroine you not only believe, you want to be. Grab this one.” –Julie Czerneda, Stratification series
~~~~~

“I’ve been a Doranna Durgin fan for years, and she consistently delivers all the things I like in a book…she doesn’t disappoint in this, her first self-published book, either.” –Karen Gould, B&N Reader

“Great story, great characters, great author!” –Natski, Smashwords Reader

About Kimmer & Rio in BEYOND THE RULES:

“Doranna Durgin’s BEYOND THE RULES is action-packed from start to finish. Kimmer is so strong that readers won’t doubt for even a minute that she’ll come out on top in the end. And Rio is a hero any woman could love.” –Romantic Times, Four Stars

The Freakishly Cool things of the day:

I found Jim Croce on iTunes. I am replete.

DuncanHorse is strong enough after his illness, the ground firm enough, and the weather nice enough so we went arroyo-hopping this weekend.

The Backlist eBooks sale has been blogged by Smashwords, picked up by eBookNewser, and tickled interest from [BIG IMPRESSIVE BLACKOUT MARK]. With over 80 authors on board and hundreds of books between us…yeah.  We’re reaching a great momentum!

AND.

There’s THIS. Just something to sneak into the market for now while the dust settles from the above sale, but I absolutely can’t wait to share this boxed set graphic.  I mean, WUH!  This is Pat Ryan Graphics, and is she AMAZING or what?

We have been breached!

You know that wall? The Fourth Wall? Blooey! Gone!

That’s the wall that stands between the characters on a page and their readers–and the wall that every now and then, we peek through. Rarely in the actual book, but sometimes on the side. Sometimes we’re just having fun…sometimes we’re trying to offer a peak into our characters and our worlds.

As a reader, there are ways this works for me and ways it doesn’t. Character interviews, yes. Characters on FaceBook, a resounding no.

Letters from characters? Hmm. It depends! And it depends on whether it really feels true to character voice, or if it just sounds like the author doing a book pitch through the character. Maybe it’s not easy to do, at that.

Anyway, if you hate them, stop reading! Quick! Run away! Because here is is, Mickey Finn’s letter as presented by Eye on Romance. I have to admit, it tickles the muse quite mightily. But what I want to know, really, is how about you? Does breaching the wall work for you in any way? Yes, no, run away? And if it does, what do you like about it?

HIDDEN STEEL
Smashwords: http://tinyurl.com/3c4lncf
Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/3fhkdxm
B&N: http://tinyurl.com/3gs5dru

First of all, I would like to make note that just because I blogged about the nice weather on Monday, it is NOT MY FAULT we got sloppy snow on Tuesday.  That is all.

Anyway.  It’s Read an eBook Week. See?  I have a banner right here that says so.  And there’s this great sale at Smashwords!  I’m in it!  Lots of the Backlist eBooks authors are in it!  DRM-free, all the major formats!

But.  As a reader, I’ve been frustrated. Seriously.  Because finding out who’s on sale and how to get there is no swift task.  I need an EASY.

And why, cry the masses, didn’t Backlist eBooks set up a special page for this sale?

Ans: Because we had 24 hours’ notice, starting late Friday night.

Oops.

So we’re all doing what we can to make it easy. For here and now, that means you’ll find Backlist eBooks authors in the comments to this post, listing book titles and links to make it…

EASY.

Here, I’ll kick it off!

(It’s entirely selfish, you know.  My Nook is hungry.)

My whole ebook line-up is here: MeMEME!

Regularly priced at 2.99
MAKING THE RULES (romantic suspense) is 50% off
HIDDEN STEEL (romantic suspense) is 25% off
A FERAL DARKNESS (contemp. fantasy) is 25% off

Regularly $1.49
DEEP RIVER RECKONING (paranormal romance from The Reckoners series) is 25% off

Two free fantasy stories: A Bitch in Time and The Scoria

And now for the rest of us!  Backlist eBooks authors, charge forth!  Give us good reading!

Remember what I said about the Influential Reader? Oh, you do give my heart glee when you grab the power!

Review by: natski :
Having read the 1st 2 books in the series i thoroughly enjoyed the further adventures of Kimmer & Rio. For me a good romance book is not always about the sex but the relationship and how it grows. In this story you get to see how Kimmer & Rio learn to trust themselves as partners when they are tested by outside forces. They know they are capable individually but this answers the questions of how they cope together. Great story, great characters, great author!

Review by: Karen Gould :
This book has a lot of action, great characters, and some romance (but not steamy sex scenes – if you’re looking for that, this isn’t the book for you). All this and an actual interesting plot too! I’ve been a Doranna Durgin fan for years, and she consistently delivers all the things I like in a book, and she doesn’t disappoint in this, her first self-published book, either.

Review by Charles Thompson:
Great read!!! This is a fast paced book. It keeps your interest from the start and is hard to put down If you are looking for a story to help you fall asleep, don’t pick this one. Kimmer and Rio are a good match, work well together, worry about each other and get the job done. Doranna Durgin has given us another great book.

MAKING THE RULES
Smashwords
Kindle

=============

“We don’t want to hurt you.”

The voice in Kimmer’s ear wasn’t the least bit convincing.  Nor was the gun barrel poking her in the back.  But a quick assessment of the potential collateral damage in the gardens—the Jardines de Albia constituted a major Bilbao landmark, well trafficked by tourists and locals alike—and she forced herself to relax.

“Very good.”  The voice spoke Spanish, and seemed surprised at her silent acquiescence.  He’d been afraid she’d panic.

Messy thing, panic.  She supposed she should have faked some; it had obviously been expected of her cover, Kimberly.

Then again, if they hadn’t already figured out that Kimberly did the unexpected, they needed to go back to goonboy school.  For this man was, she was certain, of the Basajaun—coming back for a second try.

Which meant that they probably didn’t intend to hurt her.  At least, not at the moment.  “What do you want?” she asked, her voice low.  Still within the gardens, she stood within sight of the café exit.  San Vicente’s impressive gothic architecture stretched up to the sky before her and thick, groomed foliage loomed behind her.

In answer, he tugged on her arm, indicating that she should fade back into the bushes.

She readily complied.  Rio would know something was wrong when he couldn’t immediately see her.  And it gave her time to ponder the best weapon.  The war club, no…not within reach.  She needed to get a special holster for that thing.  Both their guns, sitting at the bottom of her backpack—out of reach and just damned not supposed to be needed on this touristy lunch.  Double damn.

She faked a stumble and gave her shin a rueful rub, retrieving one of her smallest knives in the process.  It would sit in the palm of her hand until she needed it, but now…

Now she was ready.

“Kimberly?”

Rio’s voice, the faintest extra edge of concern.  He wouldn’t have called for her if he’d been on his own…he’d have looked silently.  So that meant…

Her unwelcome escort confirmed her forming suspicion.  “Here,” he said, in Euskari, keeping his voice low.  And he pushed Kimmer into the open, where she could find Rio, meet his worried gaze, and raise her brows in exquisite dryness.  “Hey, Richard,” she said.  “Look, I found friends.”

This is me, screwing up my courage.

*pause to admire the image this presents*

So far in my backlist ebook efforts, I’ve put out just that–reverted, out-of-print books. Stories that have already been vetted by editors, approved by readers.

This time, not so much. But sort of.

(In writing, clarity is everything. The above words illustrate this rather well, don’t you think?)

When I was writing for the Silhouette Bombshell line, I had a loosely defined series I call the Hunter Agency Series. They weren’t really marketed as such, but I built a number of books around the same little agency, and in 2005 or so, had two of those in the works with a brand-new contract.

Ohh, how I loved the Bombshell line…

Two of the already published books featured the irascible Kimmer Reed and her newly found partner, Rio Carlsen. And, as it happens, the very week I turned their third story in to my editor, the line was cancelled.

Many Bombshell books found new homes–Hidden Steel, for instance, went to Five Star, while other authors were able to massage their stories to fit other lines.

I couldn’t; the Bombshells were about kick-ass female characters and the guys who were strong enough to be with them, and mine all drove their stories to the extent that changing that foundation piece would collapse the story.

So Making the Rules (which I called Basque to the Rules for so long that I pretty much forgot it had a real title) waited for some clever idea/opportunity to come along.

Oh, look. Suddenly I’m putting out Backlist Ebooks. So why not take it one step further–?

It took some doing–I did a scorchingly thorough second and final draft process, sent it out to readers, and found someone to do CE/proofing on it.

And then there was the part about screwing up my courage.

But hey, I can’t let my kick-ass character down, can I?

So, la! Here it is! My orphaned Bombshell, finding a home…

MAKING THE RULES
Smashwords
Kindle

===========

Kimmer Reed is a Hunter Agency operative, a street foundling escaped from an abusive family and raised to be code-name Chimera–a fierce, savvy loner with a natural gift for reading people. Now on her first assignment with the one man she trusts–the one man she can’t read–she finds herself overseas in the Basque countryside, framed for the theft of the very antiquity she has been sent to guard and doubting her ability to work with a partner at all–never mind the man she loves.

Rio Carlsen, former CIA field officer who left the agency with scars both physical and emotional, joins Hunter Agency field operations with reservations–and only because his partner is Kimmer. Now he’s caught in the schemes of a woman from Kimmer’s past. Political terrorism, antiquities theft, and revenge–this woman wants it all, and she’s on her way to getting it.

Framed, cut off from the agency, and tangled in Basque Nationalist splinter terrorist groups, the biggest challenge Kimmer and Rio face is coming to terms with their pasts and with each other–so they can live through the day on the way to saving it.

=============

We’ve been made.

Caught under the bright light of the power station floods on a crisp spring midnight with the grinding hum of power lines crawling over the air and the big tricky spy deal about to go down, and Hunter agents Kimmer Reed and Rio Carlsen had been made.

Chimera and her newly code-named Phoenix, finally back into the game—and yeah…already made.

Kimmer saw it on the face of the man across from them—the flicker of disdain and anger, there and then gone again. Oh, he tried to hide it, but no. Not from Kimmer.

Does Rio see it? She had no idea, not while he stood there with his Phoenix persona in place—the only man she couldn’t read with her uncanny knack of seeing truth, simply because she loved him.

That left nothing to do but play it through. She gave the man a good hard eye and demanded, “You have it?”

Only the faintest of hesitations. “Yours was the highest bid,” the man finally said—a dull little man, habitually bartering in national secrets: this time, a computer key that would give the bearer access to U.S. weapons in development. A key that Kimmer’s supposed masters in North Korea were eager to obtain.

But the man was stalling. Waiting for his people to move in from the darkness that surrounded the eye-searing light of this stark meeting ground. Asphalt and steel and humming wires, all lit into harsh detail against blackest shadow.

We need that key.

And Kimmer didn’t know if both she and Rio had been made…or if one of them could still bluff. And if so, which one…

Rio gestured his own impatience—moving closer, an unspoken threat. “If you have it, let’s see it.”

The man looked up—up at Rio, taller than tall, wheat-blond hair slicked back for the op. He smiled, tense and mean. “Yes, you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

Rio. It was Rio. Cover blown.

Backlist Ebooks…two down, a score to go…

I hadn’t planned to put this book out next, but…it’s always been that sort of book.  Like its heroine, Mickey, it’s got a heart to it that insists.

First it insisted on being written…and, with a contract to the Silhouette Bombshell line, it was.

Then, when the Bombshell line was abruptly cancelled, and the very last month of releases put out in January–with Hidden Steel on the schedule for February–the book pushed on and found a new home at Five Star Expressions.

Five Star Expressions, however, specialized in getting hardcover copies into libraries–quick distribution to a dedicated market, and then rather quickly out of print.  A good little home for the book, but only a temporary one, even with the audio version now available.

All of which made Hidden Steel a perfect fit for my backlist ebooks. And true to its nature so far, it made this fact abruptly clear, and now here it is.

Hidden Steel
Orphaned Bombshell making Good
$2.99 eformats
Smashwords
Kindle

Steve Spaneas doesn’t have a clue.

Who’d have thought that the woman who stumbles her way into his gym, looking and acting so very much like a street person off her meds, is really a CIA case officer whose memory has been obliterated by experimental drugs used by some very bad people?

And seriously, who’d have thought that her attempts to untangle the few clues she’s got would lead him right into her world of spies and counterspies, death and deception–and holy cow, stockpiled nuclear weapons?

But Steve had better figure out who he trusts–his years of experience on the streets, or the heart of a gritty woman determined to reclaim herself–and he’d better figure it out fast. Because suddenly there’s a body out behind the gym, surveillance teams lurking, and a series of unsavory goons following the trail of a woman temporarily named Mickey right through his life.

=========================

Mickey opened her eyes. She hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t planned on it … just suddenly found herself awake. Chaotic images struck her with the force of a physical blow; she flinched and closed her eyes. As she tried to sort out what she’d seen, she realized she wasn’t alone. At least, not quite. Two voices hovered in another unhappy discussion, far enough away so they might not notice her new awareness, close enough so she couldn’t discount them.

Hmm. What a suspicious way to think.

She cracked her eyelids open again, keeping it slow. Abstract shapes resolved to objects, most of them white in tone. Over there, the slats of closed blinds. The walls. The ceiling, sound-absorbent tiles pocked with little holes. Her skin, lightly tanned and freckled arms emerging from a gown of definite hospital vintage. Hospital. Made sense, with the woozy pounding in her head and the mist that loomed not far away, threatening to close back in on her. The black blood pressure cuff wrapped her upper arm, stark against her skin. A boxy blue monitor on a pole sat beside the bed. It gave a familiar plaintive beep and the cuff automatically inflated.

Hospital.

Why?

She couldn’t see the man and woman who conversed; they seemed to be just outside the door. She considered opening her still-dry lips to ask, suddenly overwhelmed by the taste of morning mouth. Ick. And as she hunted the room for any sign of ice water or maybe even randomly placed toothpaste—because hey, one could hope—other details impressed themselves upon her.

She lay on a fancy cot of some sort, not a hospital bed. There was no television in the corner, no privacy drapes around the bed. A stethoscope and a brand-new box of latex gloves sat on a rickety fake-wood table not far from the bed—no sign of a hospital bed tray in sight. None of the ubiquitous identical supplies one seemed to find in a hospital room—no dull pinkish-rose plastic emesis basin, no matching pitcher, no box of scratchy generic tissues. A flattened, empty IV bag sat on the floor beside the table, along with a battered box of vials and syringes.

And then there were the handcuffs.

…Wednesday

FEMME FATALE…

Once upon a time, I received an invitation to participate in the neatest of new projects–a collection of three novellas that would, in essence, kick off the entire Bombshell series; it was Silhouette’s way of testing the waters. The first novella–mine–would introduce the elements of the larger story arc; the second would move the larger story forward, and the third novella would complete the larger story arc–while each novella would also be its own self-contained story.

How neat is that? Not only was I being offered the chance to work with two authors I admire (Meredith Fletcher and Virginia Kantra), but the main story arc was a spy thriller with assertive, adventurous heroines. Think Alias or Emma Peel or even Kelyn from my book Wolverine’s Daughter. All I had to work with were the key logistics of the story and one-liner character IDs. Hoo, boy, did I jump at the chance!

==========

He made no attempt at stealth; two long strides and he was upon her, his hand–the one she’d been waiting for–landing heavily on Beth’s shoulder and clenching the fabric of her parka. He spun her back around, but the anticipation on his face turned to surprise as she offered no resistance, moving easily under his hand–adding her own spin to his pull so she came around quicker than he’d ever considered. She saw that, too–just before she gave the baton an expert flick to extend it, whipping it across the big muscle of his thigh.

He grunted a supremely startled “Uh!”, bending over the pain–only to come face to face with the barrel of her Sig.

She tucked the muzzle under his chin and lifted his face to look up at her. “His name is Wyatt,” Beth cooed, lifting the muzzle just enough to let the end sight dig into stubbled skin. “Steadier than any boyfriend I ever had, but prone to premature ejaculation, if you get my drift. Now…did I hear you say something about going away? Perhaps about walking in the opposite direction, really fast? Because as I think I’ve already mentioned…I’m busy.”

Through clenched teeth he said, “Wouldn’t…want…to…keep…you.”

“Funny, that’s what most of my men say.” Beth stepped back just far enough to indicate he had the chance to leave.

He took it.

…Wednesday

Yes, Comeback is another of the Bombshells to be available in ebook–and another in the popular Athena Force series–this time, the final book in the second continity series.

For this one, I was so pleased to go back to Selena and Cole–I not only got to show them adventuring heroically together, but I was able to slip some reality into the kick-ass fantasy. Because Selena, having been through her big Die Hard experience in Checkmate, now has to deal with the aftermath…

Also, I got to do maggots.

==========

“No,” Selena told him. “I’m smoking hot. Too bad you’re only now beginning to figure it out.”

…Wednesday

Yes, Checkmate was the first of the Bombshells to be available in ebook–in the very first batch, actually, since it’s #12 of the really popular Athena Force series.

Writing Book Twelve of a complex 12-book continuity…well, that was interesting, all right. Especially since I had only brief (VERY brief) synopses of books 1-11 to work with. And while we had an email list, on which everyone shared as they could, it turned out that we all had different deadlines, and I actually wrote #12 before most of the others were done.

Fortunately, the Silhouette editors had mercy on me, and my basic working concept was “Selena goes to Berzhaan (AKA Fakeistan) and walks into Big Trouble involving [continuity wrap-up], while temporarily estranged from her hubby.”

OH. The research I did for this book. I mean…THE RESEARCH. Including an interview with the CIA officer who’d retired from the field to work liaison with Hollywood (Alias, for instance…). Not to mention all the reasearch into homemade devices and weapons, and worrying whether anyone would, er…notice.

But it all paid off! Because basically, this book is my wicked fun take on MacGyver vs Die Hard, with a female protagonist (and her hubby is no slouch, either!). And oh! It was FUN!

==========

Selena surged around the door frame and shot him in the ass.