Familiar? Yes, I know Diane Burton!

Familiarise Friday has a treat today since I'm totally delighted to have a good friend, Diane Burton, paying a return visit. Diane is a fantastic virtual friend who spends a good lot of time helping to promote the work of other authors, including me. 

She’s just released a brand new novel -  One Red Shoe -  and is currently doing a launch tour for it. I’m looking forward to sharing her newest heroine in this Wild Rose Press Crimson Rose Suspense novel. 

There's a $25 Amazon gift Card, from Diane, waiting for some lucky person. Read on and find out how you can be Diane's winner from her tour. But first...

On past visits Diane was in the process of launching Sci-fi Romance, but today the sub-genre she's writing in is quite different- Romantic Suspense. 

Some months ago, we were discussing how ancestry played a big factor in my last published book -Topaz Eyes- and we sometimes trade some family updates when we cross paths on Facebook. Today, Diane's beginning on a similar topic. So, hello again,  Diane...  

 

Thanks, Nancy, for having me back on your blog. I like to tell my friends I’m visiting Scotland whenever I come here. Wishful thinking on my part. Someday my husband and I will cross the “pond” and visit the land of his ancestors (his mother was a Burns) and mine (a lot higher on the family tree).

www.123RF.com

Hubs and I started searching our roots in the 1970s. Back then, you had to go to a large library that housed microfilm reels with a mind-boggling amount of data—unindexed. You sat in front of a huge machine to read the film. Starting at the beginning of the reel, you cranked page after page hoping you didn’t miss a mention of your ancestor’s name. When you finished, your eyes glazed over, you returned the reel to the librarian, exchanged it for another one, and hoped someone hadn’t taken your machine in the meantime. It’s so much easier now. You can sit at home in your easy chair and just go online.

 

Before we began our search, we asked our parents and any relatives who might have some stories to tell that would give us a lead. To this day, Hubs regrets that his grandfather, orphaned as a boy, never talked much about his family in Glasgow. With all of our parents and grandparents gone now, we are the keepers of the stories. Often I tell my grandchildren little stories of things their mother did when she was a little girl. Or I show them ceramics my grandmother made. Or tell them the “Poochie” stories my mom used to tell about her hero dog. Interestingly, a Scottie.

Family has always been important to me. I’m the oldest of seven children. My father was also the oldest of seven. My mom had one brother. I have lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Over the years, I’ve found that listening to the stories are not enough. Memories fade. Writing doesn’t.

 

Family is important to Daria Mason, the heroine of One Red Shoe. She’s the baby, overprotected by her four brothers. When their parents died, Daria was thirteen. Her older brothers gave up their independence to take on the responsibility of being her guardian. Comforting when she was a teen. Not so good at twenty-nine. Lately, she’s been vicariously living the adventure she longs for through writing mysteries. Her kick-butt heroine is everything Daria isn’t. Until now. When she sets off for a writers’ conference in New York City, eager for adventure, she gets more than she bargains for.

 Here's what One Red Shoe is all about:

Wannabe writer rescues wounded spy while risking her heart.

Daria Mason’s life is too predictable. Nothing ever happens in her small Iowa town where everybody knows everybody else. But when she travels to New York City looking for a little excitement, she never expects to bring home a wounded spy.

From the moment agent Sam Jozwiak steals intel vital to US security from a Russian Mafia kingpin, Murphy’s Law takes over. No matter how he covers his tracks, the kingpin’s assassins find him. What’s worse than getting shot in the butt? Accepting help from an Iowa tourist.

Sam and Daria flee cross country with the assassins right behind them. Sharing danger and excitement—and a few kisses—with Sam soon has Daria convinced he’s the man for her. He thinks she’ll be better off once he’s out of her life for good. With their lives on the line, can she convince him they belong together?

  

Diane's sharing a great little sneak peak at One Red Shoe with us today:

For the second time in her life, Daria Mason came face-to-face with a man pointing a weapon at her. A pervert, with unzipped jeans, wielded a green box knife. Because she’d raced into the restroom without checking out the situation, he now stood between her and the exit.

 

She was at the end of the proverbial rope. After walking in circles, she finally found a restroom and nobody was stopping her from using it. Especially not someone playing copycat with that guy in the movie who wore one red shoe.

“I am having a really bad day,” she declared in the don’t cross me voice she used on her brothers. As soon as her words echoed off the hideous pink and black tiled walls and floor, she lowered her voice. “You are in the wrong place, mister. Now zip up and get out.” She pointed straight-armed toward the door.

The man shook his head and set the flimsy knife on the counter. “Lady, you have more guts than sense. You are in the wrong place, at the wrong time.” His voice was even softer than hers. He eyed her with a look so dark and intense it paralyzed her like a hawk freezing its prey. She swallowed past the fear in her throat, certain it sounded like a gulp.

Oooh! That sounds so... intriguing, Diane. How is she going to get out of that!

One Red Shoe is available at Amazon for Kindle.

Thanks again, Nancy, for helping me celebrate the release of my brand new book.

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing science fiction romance. Besides the Switched series, she is the author of The Pilot, a series about strong women on the frontier of space. One Red Shoe is her first romantic suspense. She is also a contributor to the anthology How I Met My Husband. Diane and her husband live in Michigan. They have two children and two grandchildren.

For more info and excerpts from her books, visit Diane’s website: http://www.dianeburton.com

Connect with Diane Burton online:

Blog 

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/dmburton72

Facebook:  http://facebook.com/dianeburtonauthor

Goodreads: Diane Burton Author

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/dmburton72/

 

Diane is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky commenter. To enter, click Diane's Blog

My very best wishes to you for a successful launch tour, Diane.

Slainthe!