New Release: Ms. Calculation and Special Guest Debra Webb!

I'm excited to let you know that there is a new release on the horizon--Ms. Calculation, Book one of the Mystery Christmas Series!This year has gone by entirely too fast. If you’re like me, you are meeting the end of summer with equal parts relief and sadness—kids are heading back to school and now comes the days in which work can be done.Here in Montana, our air is filled with smoke and our ability to get out of the house is sporadic at best, which means that in some ways we are already beginning to feel a bit housebound—but I’m not complaining. For me, that means more time to write, to play Legos with my kiddos, and read the books teetering off the top of my TBR stack (here’s looking at you, Angi Morgan and Debra Webb).Last week, in an effort to get out of the smoke, I headed to Green Bay for the Writers Police Academy along with my friends and fellow Harlequin Intrigue authors: Angi Morgan, Rita Herron, Jenna Kernan, and Debra Webb. We had so much fun! (Needless to say, we brought the BOOM to SWAT training!) I’m sure you will be reading some of the fun ideas this conference inspired in my upcoming titles!This month also marks the paperback release of Ms. Calculation (the paperback will start appearing at your local stores on August 22 and the e-book will be hitting digital shelves on September 1, 2017)!This is the first book in the four-book Mystery Christmas Series.Here is an excerpt from Ms. Calculation for your enjoyment:You can get your copies here:  Harlequin | Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google Play | Walmart  | GoodreadsIn addition to my release, Debra Webb and I are working together to get the word out about our books. I LOVE Debra’s works.Here is her excerpt for her new release, The Coldest Fear: 

A killer with nothing left to lose… Detective Bobbie Gentry has a monster to confront. The pain of losing her family and nearly her life to a criminal's vile hunger is still fresh, but now the landscape is different. Now she's not alone. Now she has Nick Shade to trust. Nick treats the terror of his past with vengeance. He's dedicated his life to hunting serial killers, and he'd give his last breath to save Bobbie. When a string of killings bloodies Savannah's elite society and causes cold cases to resurface, Bobbie is captured in a city more haunted than Nick's inescapable nightmares. And as the murderer strikes close, Nick and Bobbie will need to become even closer if they're going to survive.

You can get your copy of The Coldest Fear here: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | KOBO | IndieBound | Walmart | Target

What are you going to be doing this fall? Big plans? Kids going back to school? I would love to hear what you are up to!And if you get the chance, after you read the book, DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE THOSE REVIEWS ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE. These reviews are an important part of our job—we read them, as do our publishers.As always, thank you for loving my books! I write for you.-Danica Winters 

Top 5 Life Lessons: From the Lives of the Characters of the Irish Traveller Series

I sigh as I sit down to blog. Everyone who knows me well, knows that I think working with my website isn’t nearly as fun as working on a book (like those of the Irish Traveller Series). Yet, I want to reach out to everyone and catch up.These days, I have been spending a large amount of my time editing, plotting, and actually spending a wee bit of time with my family and friends. Over the last eighteen months, I have put thousands of hours into ten different projects. I’m finally coming to the end of my manic writing schedule. Next up is the release of Always a Wanderer, Book 2 of  the Irish Traveller Series.In these many hours, I have ended up putting my characters through some crazy scenarios and they (and I have) learned some critical lessons; none more so than Helena O’Driscoll and Graham Kelly, the hero and heroine of Always a Wanderer and Once a GypsyI thought it was high time that I shared their whoppers and I hope that these hard-learned lessons can help you as much as they helped Helena and Graham. Here goes:

1. Learn to say “No.”

This seems obvious, but often as women we are taught to please others or to make sure that everyone around us is comfortable and happy.Screw that. It’s okay to put yourself first. You need to be happy, the rest will follow.Yeah, I said a bad-ish word on my blog. Which leads to my second learning lesson:

2. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.

Not everyone is going to like you. Which kind of stems off of lesson one, but this is slightly different. Even if you try and please people, there will be some who hate your guts and would wish for you to eat worms.I’ve had to really come to terms with this one. I want people to like me. I still want to make everyone around me happy. I’m a huge jokester… but I won’t win everyone over. AND THAT’S OKAY.If someone doesn’t like something you have written, said, done, or joked about, then the problem is a larger statement on that person than it is on you.Stemming from this, you can find tremendous empowerment in the ability to…

3. Let s*** go.

(Not gonna lie, almost cussing is kinda fun. I guess I’m really enjoying this whole Don’t be afraid to be yourself thing.)We all have moments in our lives that are rough. Some are worse than others, but with time we must learn and push ourselves to walk away from things that aren’t helping us. Maybe you have a toxic friendship, a job that is making you miserable, or you made a mistake. Regardless of your battle, forgive, forget and move on.There is great power in forgiving the unforgiveable, but the greatest power it gives is to you. If you forgive those who have wronged you, or have made mistakes that concern you, if you give forgiveness, you will free yourself. It’s amazing.Lastly, but probably the most important lesson Helena and Graham have learned is:

5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

This is just as important in life as it has been in my writing. I have had to get many hands on deck. I’ve enlisted friends, family members, and fans to help—and I couldn’t be more thankful.This lesson has varying levels, and that’s perfectly normal. Sometimes we just need an hour without kids. Ask for help. Sometimes you need helping lifting or cleaning or exercising or whatever. Ask for help. Sometimes things are much darker and emotionally draining, you’ve lost a friend, a relationship, a parent, a spouse… Whatever it is. Ask for help.You will be shocked at the outpouring of support you will receive if you just reach out. People are incredible, if you allow them to be.I could keep going about what my characters have learned, but those lessons are by far the most important.Over the last year, what lessons have you walked away with? I’d love to hear. J While many of you are on my newsletter/street team (if you are not, you can sign up for the Street Team or the Newsletter by clicking on your choice location), I know that I have missed some who would love to be included. I hope to see you there.Also, I have some cool stuff coming up in the coming weeks. (Anyone want to win a trip to an all-expense paid trip to a guest ranch in Montana?) And again, Always a Wanderer will be hitting shelves on June 27, 2017! So stay tuned!

New Release: Wild Montana

I'm so thrilled to let you know that today Wild Montana has hit store shelves! The e-book will be released on February 1, but you can pre-order and it will automatically upload to your device upon release! Here's the blurb for Wild Montana:Have a former FBI agent and a park ranger met their match in the wilds of Montana? With a mysterious death to solve in Glacier National Park, Customs and Border Patrol agent Casper Lawrence must come up with motive, means, opportunity—and a killer. If he doesn't crack this case by the book, the former FBI agent on strike two will be out. Teamed with a beautiful park ranger, the cowboy agent with the gritty past has to trust sexy lone wolf Alexis Finch. But as their investigation takes them through dangerous terrain and an outlaw motorcycle club's turf, Casper will do anything to keep Alexis—and what they've ignited—alive.And a little excerpt!

Wild Montana

Chapter One

Alexis Finch forced her body up the steep trail and toward the location the hikers had described. Ravens swooped through the air above her, calling out secrets to their comrades as they flew west. Even though she hiked nearly every day through the backcountry of Glacier National Park, each step was torturous. The altitude made her breath come faster, but she focused her attention on the thick pines that surrounded them, and she ignored the pain that shot up from her tired calves.

“Ranger Finch,” the Customs and Border Protection agent called from behind her.

She was thankful as she stopped and turned back, taking the moment to catch her breath and shift the straps of her backpack, as they had started to cut into her shoulders. “Hmm?”

Casper Lawrence stopped beside her, his cheeks pink and a sheen of sweat covering his tanned face. She found comfort in the fact that after more than three miles of this uphill battle, the handsome agent was hurting just as badly as she was. “According to the GPS, this should be the spot.” He motioned around them.

The hillside was covered with thick, frost-bitten grasses, timber and patches of snow that hid in the shadows. No evidence of a struggle. No blood. No fresh tracks.

“Look,” she said, pointing toward the ravens overhead. “No matter what the GPS says, we follow the birds. Listen to nature. It’ll give us all the information we need.” She cringed as she realized how much she sounded like a bumper sticker, but as she spoke the words she knew they were true, especially when it came to finding a body.

If she’d learned anything in working as a law enforcement park ranger in the park for the last five years, it was that the only thing she could trust was Mother Nature’s fickle attitude. She did as she pleased, and danger could be found in the moments that a person underestimated her power. It was easy to identify the people who had misjudged her; they were usually the ones Alexis and the other rangers were sent into the backcountry to find—or the ones whose bodies they were sent in to recover...

I hope you love the book as much as I do!

-Danica Winters

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