More new books!

 On Black Friday, November 25th, two books will go on sale. Pardon me as I dance around!

First, Start Your Life Now, is a book of affirmations based off the The Cafe of Hopes and Dreams, the second Dream Factory Book.

It contains original art by me, journal prompts, and encouraging text.

 

 

Second, Handcuffs Teach Trust; Writing the Best BDSM of Your Life, is a new companion book the Arousal to Zipper: Writing the Best Sex of Your Life!  Here's why I wrote this one, from the Introdction.

The purpose of a love scene, no matter the heat level, is to reveal who our characters are at their rawest and most passionate.  These scenes are the emotional dynamite for the story, where we explore the personalities and wounds of our lovely originals. There is nothing more powerful than a person stating her true desires and then getting what she wants. That is why I put together this book, because far too often, love scenes with BDSM have become a place to show off extreme actions and not about the emotions that create the true impact of what kink reveals.

Get your pre-order in now for holiday shopping. 

I'm so thrilled to have so many books out this year. :)

 

Do you need ideas for presents?

   

Do you know someone who needs a boost of love and warmth? Why not send them signed  paperbacks of The Dream Factory series? These books are perfect for anyone who needs a break or a moment of hope.

I'm running low on signed copies so now is the time. I only have 1 copy of The Dream Factory in stock and only 4 of A Dream of Words.

Perfect for holiday gifts, or just an, "I'm thinking of you," gift.

The Dream Factory

The Cafe of Hopes and Dreams 

A Dream of Words

My new book is released! I love this story so much. In this third book in The Dream Factory series, Cassie Mark, the teenager who shows up in Alice's costume shop in Book One, has an adventure to discover who she wants to be. Not everyone is cut out for living in a small town. I sure wasn't and neither was my co-author Shea. We both wanted to share a story about a young woman who had to leave the village of Gold Coast, Illinois for Rome, Italy. There is something liberating about being in a big city with a rich history. Visiting these places puts your issues in perspective and gives you endless inspiration. Writing this book gave us a chance to armchair travel to one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Also, you can buy signed copies of all three books over at my website. This is the perfect book for when you want to cuddle up with a warm beverage and a darn good read.   Buy Links: My Web Site Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo Apple Books

A Dream of Words is available for pre-order!

  Hello, beautiful people. I stopped engaging so much here and on social media because, first, it's been a gothic novel of a year, and second, I wanted to spend my energy on actually writing books. This turned out to be an absolutely winning strategy.

 

As a result, I have THREE new projects up for pre-sale now. The one I want to talk about today is my latest collaboration with my incredible co-author, Shea MacLeod.

Please welcome our newest book baby, A Dream of Words!

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Everyone knows each other in Gold Coast, a friendly place where dreams bloom. Once a depressed flyspeck on the map, the village has grown in warmth and love.

Welcome back to the magical town in Southern Illinois, where everyone glows with hope.

Alas, life in a small town is not for everyone.

Cassie Mack hated living in Gold Coast. Everybody knew each other’s business, her toxic family tried to use her as a workhorse, and there was no way romance would ever come for her. She dreamed of making a world of words, sumptuous words that described food, love, and flavor.

When the luscious words of her secret blog catch the eye of a flailing bakery in Rome, she jumped at their offer to come help them revitalize their presence.

Cassie can run from her family and create herself into who she wants to be. But the wounds still linger. If she wants a chance at a future that suits her, she will have to grow and become the embodiment of her Dream of Words.


Preorder today for the October 3rd release. This will be the perfect book for autumn, full of amazing food descriptions and learning to adore oneself.  We hope it will inspire to dig into your dreams and create them even further.

Watch for the newsletters on the rest of my projects - a book and deck of affirmations based on the Cafe of Hopes and Dreams and another writing reference book.  It's going to be a wonderful end to 2022.

Buy Links:
My Web Site
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Apple Books

 

Advanced Reader Copies available!

 Hello, lovely people. 

Would you like to get an advanced reader copy (ARC) of my soon to be released book and oracle deck, Affirmations for Women in Business? I created all the art for this project, based on the wonderful affirmations from The Dream Factory.  An ARC is a mostly perfect version of an upcoming release, given to select people for reviews and comments.

Each saying has one of a kind art and includes journal prompts for further brainstorming. Currently, the ARCs are only available for the book since I am still finalizing the deck and the retailers for it.

If you want an ARC, reply and I'll get the .pdf to you. I ask you to please leave a review at your favorite e-shop. If you have any comments, such as if something doesn't make sense or I missed a typo (the most persistent of all things), email me and I'll get those taken care of before the release dates.

You can also pre-order the books.  I'll announce when the decks will be ready for order, too (since they take longer to publish than a book).

Thank you all so much. I can't wait to hear from you. <3
Linda

 

The holiday season is barrelling down at us. May I humbly recommend books as fabulous gifts? They always fit, after all! Depending on what kinds of books your friends and family like, I'd like to think I've got you covered. Do you like sexy romance with lots of adventure? The Blood Wings Series (Dracula's Secret, Dracula's Desires, and Dracula Unleashed) are the darkest of my books. There are intense scenes of both hot sex and fight scenes.  They are also multicultural and GLBTQ-friendly.       Less dark and more James Bond-like is Curse of the Spider Woman. This is a story with shapeshifters and the Greek Gods. Set against the backdrop of the Greek financial crisis, this story brings two former lovers together again.             Or do you prefer sexy short stories on a variety of topics? Again, multicultural and LGBTQ friendly, I have Linda Mercury's Naughty Notes. Full of short stories and poetry, this book is wonderful to read aloud to your romantic loves.   Do you like gentle, woman-power, magical realism that take place in small towns? My co-author and I, Shea MacLeod write a series called The Dream Factory! The third book will be called A Dream of Words and will be out in early 2022. These books are all-ages appropriate and filled with hope.    Or do you dig non-fiction? That will be the next post!   Buy Links: My Web Site Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo Apple Books

The Dream Factory: Alice Kennedy

I realized that I told you all about Katrina, but I had never talked about the lady who kicked off The Dream Factory series, Alice Kennedy!

Many (many) years ago, as a teenager, my family frequented a local costume shop, as one does. I thought it was the most magical place I had ever been and I yearned to run a shop like that, full of fabric, color, makeup, and other creative tools.  The smell of clothing and high quality, theatrical makeup were balms to my young soul. These were the days before those cheap, nasty costumes in plastic bags, so everything looked gorgeous.

I had put that dream aside, but every so often, I would start a story about something amazing in a costume shop. It wasn't until I approached the magical Shea MacLeod to co-write it that I was able to find the real story.

Meet Alice Kennedy. My gorgeous young woman who needed to a chance to escape her family and discover what her real talents were. Last time, I talked about the keywords we use to get a feel for the theme and character of a new novel. Here are Alice's:

lavish, lush, color, adornment, whimsy. Beauty brings peace of mind, fashion makes a difference, fertility, creativity, conservation, fear, lush, fantasy, inner selves vs outer personas, dry, drought, depression, hard-time, care-worn, dusty, dry, clean, sparkling, rules, rebellion.

Her Motto: We need bread and roses.

Alice came into the sad town of Gold Coast, Illinois, and brought it to life. She is living her dream, and in many ways, she is living my dream, too. How wonderful is *that*?


 

 

Where *can* you find my books?

 

Links? 

You bet!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

Kobo 

Apple Books 

Scribd 

Vivlio

 

The Cafe of Hopes and Dreams: Katrina Kennedy McPherson

When Shea MacLeod and I were writing The Dream Factory, the first book in this series, we knew that we wanted Alice's older sister, Katrina to be the heroine of the second book.

Poor Katrina, trapped by her own fears and the inertia of not living her dreams. We introduced her in Book One as the frustrated big sister. By the time she showed up at The Thing at the end of The Dream Factory, we knew she had to escape the trap she had built for herself. First thing, we had to know what her key words were (It's a librarian thing. It's hard to explain). It's a way
for us to decide on theme and what our focus will be. Here are Katrina's (and Book Two's) keywords:

Freedom, escape velocity, sweetness of life, rising, silky, lightness, savor, relax, focus, starvation, satiation, completion, contentment, delicious, delicate, scent, fruit, fortification, and strengthening.

We also searched for images of what we thought she looked like. This picture really caught her tender interior and her bruised soul.

Once we had her words, we could figure out what she really needed and what she wanted. Fortunately, figuring all that out took lots of delicious baked goods. :)

Also, it took a lot of going over and over practice LSATs. That absolutely proved to everyone that law school was NOT in the near future.

Writing Katrina's story really helped us cope with being stuck at home. Shea and I could imagine the scents of roses and freshly baked cake wafted over the small town of Gold Coast.

It was such a pleasure to get to know our heroine. I hope you enjoy Katrina's story too!

The Cafe of Hopes and Dreams: The Dream Factory series, #2

I just released a BRAND NEW BOOK! 

Shea and I finished the sequel to The Dream Factory and it is now live on all ebook retailers. We are dancing all over the place and drinking champagne to celebrate. We love this book so much. 

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Katrina Kennedy McPherson used to have dreams. Her ambition was to become an attorney and prosecute deadbeat dads. But Life had other plans for her; like a withdrawn husband and a less-than-exciting accounting career.

Always practical, Katrina never questioned how her life turned out. That is, until the night she arrived in the small town of Gold Coast, Illinois, to drag her sister Alice back home.

Confronted by her own unhappiness, Katrina chooses to search for her joy instead. Problem is, her old life will come calling, determined to drag her back under, just as she tried to drag away her sister. Fortunately, she’s got her sister, a ghost, a town full of quirky characters, and an obsession with cake to help her untangle her true calling.

Escape into the magic of The Café of Hopes and Dreams in this heart-warming, feel-good story of a woman meant to change not just her life, but the lives of everyone around her.