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Rafflecopter Winners!!
I have GOOD new and NOT-SO-GOOD news this morning! Since it’s Monday, lets go with the GOOD New first!
My Rafflecopter giveaway ended at midnight. 
Winners HAVE been chosen!
Here is the winner list!
- Mary Sue Russell (Claimed)
- Mary Anne Meyne (Claimed)
- Patricia Wong
- Mallory Dorman
- Felicia Thomas (Claimed)
- Vickie Griffin Carter
- Nancy Saubert Luebke
- Mary Ann Cloud (Claimed)
- Robin Weiss
- Karen Giasson
- Denise Fackler Van Plew
If you are on this list, please contact me via email
cynthiadalba@gmail.com
Now the NOT-SO-GOOD news….
I’m out of town all week at a writers’ retreat so I can’t mail any of prizes until NEXT week!
I know. I know. Not fair!! But it is what it is.
So CONGRATULATIONS!! to the winners!!
THANK YOU to everyone who entered, who bought Texas Lullaby and who reviewed it! I VERY MUCH appreciate you!
WINNER and Newsletter
Yesterday, I gave away a personalized Texas Lullaby kitchen towel. My winner is kaisquared4. Congratulations Mary! Contact me either via email or on Facebook to claim your prize.
This morning, I sent out a newsletter with THREE CONTESTS in it! Did you get it? If not, you may not be one of my subscribers. (Gasps) Click on the picture before and sign up TODAY! I usually give away SOMETHING with newsletter releases.
is still ON SALE but only until July 10!
Dig through your sofa, the bottom of your purse, your coat pockets and scrape together a mire $0.99!
AND then click on one of the links below and get YOUR copy before the sale is done.
How about ANOTHER GIVEAWAY today?
Why, yes. Thank you!
How to enter:
SHARE this post on either FACEBOOK or TWITTER or both!
Come back here and TELL ME in the comments that you did it. That’s it!
What can you win? A D’Alba Kooler!
In fact, I’ll give away TWO of them!! One in orange and one in white!
Now! Go forth and share! 🙂
Thank you for coming by. Have a great day!
Where Did the Idea For Texas Lullaby Come From?
One question that authors get ALL the time is “Where do you get your ideas?” The easy answer is everywhere, and really, that’s the truth. I read newspapers, internet stories, gossip sites, television and movies. But sometimes, something so special happens in your life that the event leaves you gasping, or smiling or crying. The event behind TEXAS LULLABY did all these.
On my husband’s side of the family, we have a nephew, Jason (for privacy sake, I’m using fake names.) Jason has lived an interesting life. He spent a few years in the U,S. Coast Guard, newspaper editor (for a number of newspapers) and is now an English Teacher. When he reached his forties, I just assumed he’d never marry. He’d dated a lot of women. Had been with one woman for years, but no marriage. Then one day he met a new woman, Lydia. Lydia was also in her forties. She’d never been married but due to a “special situation,” she had raised her sister’s children. At their ages, neither of them (as far as I know) had any intention of starting a family. Jason fell in love and the next thing I knew, they were getting married. I was surprised but very thrilled for me. (For some reason, I missed the wedding. Hubby went but I don’t remember why I couldn’t.)
Fast forward two years. Jason and Lydia are in a restaurant celebrating their second wedding anniversary. The police find them and tell them that Lydia’s niece and her husband have been arrested. There is no one to take the couple’s three children (ages about 4 (a set of twin daughters) and a younger daughter of about 2.) Needless to say, Jason and Lydia ran to get the kids.
Unfortunately, Lydia’s niece and her husband (the girls’ parents) have serious drug problems. There are continuing arrests and jail for both. Jason and Lydia keep the girls. Jason works from home and takes care of the children. He starts a newspaper blog so he can be full time caregiver.
Needless to say, the girls are traumatized. They are not in good health. Teeth are in terrible shape. But their mother is their mother and they missed her. Lots of emotional trauma and tears.
Fast forward to 2017. The girls have been with Jason and Lydia for about five years. This year, the girls were formally adopted by Jason and Lydia and they are the most wonderful parents! I wish I could show the “before Jason and Lydia” and the “now” pictures but I won’t expose them to any more publicity. But “Jason” and “Lydia” are on Facebook and I’ve seen the girls take Karate, Fencing lessons(!), on fabulous vacations, in cute little girl bedrooms, new clothes and smiles that would simply break your heart open. I am so proud of Jason and Lydia for stepping up and taking on young children neither of them had every thought of having.
Jason… Oh My Goodness! What a fabulous Dad he has become. I never saw this in him but he is in his element being Dad to these girls. I laugh at so many of his posts about learning to be a dad!
It wasn’t easy. There was tears and sadness, but they have come out the other side. I have so proud of this family.
TEXAS LULLABY is truly the book of my heart. I cried while writing it. I kept asking Jason questions about those early days, and the girls, and him. He was great to help me.
Recently TEXAS LULLABY was award the HOLT MEDALLION for Best Short Contemporary for 2016! And I want everyone to read it!
Until July 10, TEXAS LULLABY is ON SALE for ONLY $0.99! That’s right. Less than a buck! It’s a $4.00 savings! Help me get this book into the hands of readers!
Share this post.
Buy the book.
Enter the contest!
Wait! Did I forget to mention the contest? Click the link below and enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
If you don’t have TEXAS LULLABY, Grab It Before It Goes Back Up To $4.99! Make sure the price if $0.99! If not, please LET ME KNOW!
Thank you for reading. Have a great day!
LAST DAY FOR SALE & NAME MY BOOK
Today is my last day for blogging this week. I will TRY to do this more often but you know… life….
I hope you do follow me on Facebook
Facebook and Facebook Fan Page
Not only is the last blog this week, this is the LAST 24 hours to get WHEN THINGS GET HOT IN TEXAS for a mire $0.99
Now, I’ll be honest… this book is WORTH $0.99. Heck, it’s worth the $2.99 that will be the price after today.
Here’s another secret I’ll let you in on… This book is only available for one month. After that, we’ll pull it down and each author will individually publish her own story. One difference is that I’ll put Texas Daze out in print in addition to digital.
I hope you all are also members of Western Romance Cafe over on Facebook. I’m posting over there today also and OF COURSE there are prizes! 🙂 You’ll have to check over there to see what the prizes are.
Today’s prizes (here) are:
Embroidered Beach Towel
Mystery Prize (book and swag)
Winner’s choice – print Texas Montgomery Book or Embroidered Towel
Here’s what I need help with… my next book is about a disable vet and a psychologist. He was hurt in an IED explosion. He has some serious scarring and a limp. Of course, when he looks in the mirror, ALL he sees is horrible scarring of a face, neck and chest that used to be handsome. My hero (Dax) was Army Special Forces. Alpha to the core. Has already been irresistible to women because of his looks (in his opinion.) He’s surly. Angry. And, when he can sleep, relives the explosion that killed most of his men.
My heroine not without her own issues. The middle child of three, my heroine is bookend by two STUNNINGLY beautiful sisters, not to mention her mother. Both her mother and her older sister held the Miss Texas title and her sister was runner-up to Miss America. Her younger sister is no less gorgeous. My heroine is pretty one of us (or most of us.) What she sees when she looks in the mirror is blah brown hair, a round face, a body that could stand a few sessions with a trainer, boring clothes, and glasses.
As you can see, both of them have some serious image issues.
I need a title. It MUST start with Texas….(Like Texas Daze or Texas Lullaby, etc)
So throw out those title ideas!
GO!
OH!! When Things Got Hot in Texas Links!
http://bit.ly/2KoboWTGHT (Kobo)
http://bit.ly/2AmazonWTGHT (Amazon)
http://bit.ly/2BarnesNobleWTGHT (Nook)
http://bit.ly/2AppleWTGHT (Apple/iBooks)
Giddy Up!!
Good Morning!
How is everyone this morning? Hope you were able to join us last night at A Taste of Romance book club (hosted by the lovely Millie Swank!) to celebrate the release of
WHEN THINGS GOT HOT IN TEXAS
The time just FLEW by. After I write today’s post, I’ll head over there and pick my winners from last night. (Check back here in about an hour and I’ll list the winners.) Here’s out beautiful cover again!
WINNERS from last night – Pam Potter, Lori Meecham, and and Stacy Jordet
You know how this game is played! Today’s Prizes..
Embroidered Beach Towel (looks like this)
A PRINT copy of either Texas Tango or Texas Lullaby
or 
This DARLING Giddy Up Plate, perfect to hold jewelry!
Today’s chat is about Texas Montgomery Mavericks! Last night, I mentioned that Texas
Daze is book NINE in the Whispering Springs, Texas Series. I know some of you were like.. WHAT??!!?? Where are the other EIGHT books in this series? How I did miss that?
I can explain! When I wrote Texas Two Step, I didn’t really know that it was the start of a series! Then Texas Tango was born, along with Texas Montgomery Mavericks. Tango was followed by Texas Fandango, Texas Twist, Texas Bossa Nova, Texas Hustle and closed with Texas Lullaby. I was sad.
I LOVED my people. Loved their little town of interesting friends. AND I kept wondering how much trouble Delene and Tina would get into!
Then I wrote Saddles and Soot. In the SAME communities, but not a Montgomery family member and I thought… Hey! Let’s tell more stories in Whispering Springs, Texas. But to keep all the stories in the same “series”. I decided to RENAME Texas Montgomery Mavericks books to Whispering Springs, Texas to keep them grouped. Keeping the same series name (TTM) would not really convey to the readers that the book they were picking up wouldn’t actually have a Montgomery in it.
Then came Texas Daze. Same community (Whispering Springs, TX), Montgomerys show up and Delene ACTS UP! HAHA
Hold up your hand if you read Texas Hustle (Porchia and Darren’s story.) Do you remember that the Montgomery patriarchs (Lane and Clint) had a sister (Cora) who got made about inheritance issues and left town, never to be seen again? Well, I found her! AND she has two sons and one daughter. And get this, ONE of her sons actually lives in Whispering Springs and has been “watching” the Montgomerys for a few years! OMG! No kidding. The Montgomerys offspring have a COUSIN living in the same town and they don’t know!
Today’s questions for you to answer…
- Have you read Texas Hustle? Do you remember Cora, the missing sister?
- Do you have a PRINT copy of Lullaby or Tango, and if not, do you want one?
- If you won the beach towel, would you keep it or give it away?
- Have you bought When Things Got Hot in Texas yet?
- Have you left a review for When Things Got Hot in Texas? (YAY if yes. PLEASE Do, if no!)
THANK YOU for coming by.
PLEASE share this post everywhere!! 🙂 If you do, come back and tell me (two comments, two entries!! I know how to game the system!)
Sticky Stuff and Prizes!!
Good Morning!! A huge THANK YOU to each of you who took advantage of the $0.99 sale for WHEN THINGS GOT HOT IN TEXAS! I mean LOOK at who’s in the collection (other than yours truly!) How could anyone resist?
Do you have your copy? Have you told a friend to grab it while it’s on sale? I sure hope so!
Today’s Prizes:
- Embroidered Beach Towel
- Mystery package
- A pair of Harlequin Socks & swag
Have you noticed the title to this post… “Sticky Things” What in the world could that mean?
Today’s topic is things you can’t eat without getting it all over you!
For me, it’s honey. I doesn’t matter how careful I am, what I use to “get” to the honey, I still end up with it in strange places, like my ELBOW! I mean.. My goodness! How did I get honey on my elbow? And my KNEE!
The other is Italian food… anything with a tomato base. Some piece will fall on my chest (Boobs really) I’m wondering if I should invest in an adult bib?
So what’s your spill?
THANK YOU for coming back today.
HELP me by sharing this post (and the book) with your friends and family and FB groups. The ladies and I would appreciate it!
OH!! Here are the buy links. You know what to do with them!
It’s HERE!!
Good Morning!! So glad you found your way here. Today starts five (5!) days of celebration! Why?
Because it’s my FIRST NEW BOOK in over six months!
Isn’t she beautiful!!!
Growing up, all my family celebrations involved food. In fact, celebrations and deaths were all noted with food! Is your family like that? Food for any event?
But for celebrations, it must be cake and ice cream! If I were serving you cake and ice cream, what kind of cake? What kind of ice cream?
PRIZES:
- A Beach Towel embroidered with your name!
- A display kitchen towel… Embroidered design to be determined
- Surprise package with book(s) and swag.
Leave a comment to be in the running. All contests will run all week. Winners announced next Monday!
psst… When Things Got Hot in Texas is OUT! Do you have your copy?
It’s DONE!
Since December 2015, I’ve been fighting breast cancer at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences. I was extremely lucky in that we caught it early. While the type of cancer (Triple Negative Breast Cancer) can be the worst diagnosis because of its aggressive and invasive nature, for me, it wasn’t. It was very small when discovered (through a regular mammogram). Also in my favor, the cancer responded to the chemotherapy. At the start of chemo (on Dec. 31, 2015), the cancer was 1.4 cm. At the end of treatment (April, 2016), the cancer was 9mm. A very good response.
I had surgery in June to remove the “dead” lump in my breast. Just a simple lumpectomy and sentinel node resection. Both showed no live cancer, which was excellent. The cancer had been in one place of one breast and had not spread outside that area.
Still, my doctors felt breast radiation should be done “just in case” there was even a seed there. So for the past three weeks, I have had daily radiation on that breast. On Friday, (yesterday!) I had a last and final radiation treatment.
That means… I’M DONE! No more chemo. No more radiation. No more surgery.
I hesitate to use the word “cured” so for now, let’s say… there is NO evidence of cancer anywhere in my body! YAY
Now it’s time to get serious about getting back to writing. Don’t you agree?
Newsletter Announcement!
I’ve taken back over doing my own newsletter. Yes, yes, I know. Control freak! But I do enjoy the work!
I have a new newsletter coming out in twenty-four hours! You won’t want to miss it.
If you’ve been a newsletter subscriber in the past, you probably are still on the rolls. If you haven’t, then now is the time to jump in!
Head over to http://cynthiadalba.com/newsletter-sign-up and sign up today!
There might be an announcement about these…
Catch my news!
TEXAS HUSTLE IS HERE!
For the past 14 days, I’ve teased you with excerpts, dangled the dreamy cover, and gave you prizes…all for today!
TEXAS HUSTLE IS OUT!
I hope YOUR copy is in your hands!
I think a great book deserves a great release party, don’t you? Me too!
Today’s party is here… https://www.facebook.com/events/1635016913437178/
And get my guests…Cat Johnson, Julie Miller, Kieran Kramer, Susan Stoker, Jill Sanders, Erin Nicholas, Jodi Vaughn, Cover model Scott Nova, and Laura Trentham. Plus there will be some surprises!!
It starts at 3 pm ET (2 pm CT / 12 noon PT) and runs until 8 pm ET (7PM CT / 5 PM PT)
AND I’ve got ANOTHER 7″ HD KINDLE FIRE TO GIVE AWAY!
So where’s the link? https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCynthiaDAlba/?sk=app_228910107186452
GOOD LUCK!!
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