Muses Fall Carnival Blog Hop Winner!

Congratulations to Rhi who is the winner of my individual giveaway for the 2016 Fall Carnival Blog Hop! Rhi wins a Kindle version of CLEAR TO LIFT!

To see the grand prize winner of the $80 Amazon gift card, please visit the Desert Muses website.

Thanks to all of you who participated!

Assumption Book Club

We had an amazing book club meeting with the women of the Assumption Book Club last night. We discussed CLEAR TO LIFT, and enjoyed a full spread of fruits, desserts, and coffee, and even several glasses of Prosecco! Can't beat that!

Thank you so much, ladies! Awesome night!

Muses Fall Carnival Blog Hop!

Welcome, Fall Carnival Blog Hoppers!

The Desert Muses are giving away an $80 Amazon gift card to one lucky hopper. If you sign up for my newsletter, you'll gain another entry for this random drawing, which will increase your chances to win!

Also, when you sign up for my newsletter, you'll have the chance to win a Kindle copy of my new novel, CLEAR TO LIFT.

(You can find the sign-up block for my newsletter on the sidebar to the right. Please note, it's not the first sign-up bar. Please scroll a little lower to where it says "newsletter.")

Contest runs from Oct 17th to 24th. Winners for the grand prize and for all individual giveaways will be announced on October 29th. So, please return to the Muses blog to see if you’ve won.


***Be sure to visit each individual author's site to increase your number of entries for the grand prize!

Next stop on the Blog Hop is Shanyn Hosier! She's got two brand new releases and she's offering a chance to win free Kindle copies of both!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall break in the Eastern Sierra

For those of you who have read CLEAR TO LIFT, you know that much of it is set in the Sierra Nevada. My husband and I have been fortunate enough to "play" in the Eastern Sierra for most of our lives. For fall break, we took the kids once again, and visited many of the sites you read about in the book. Here are some photos. Enjoy!






<< Schat's Bakkery in Bishop is the star of the show in chapter 4. Truly an awesome place to eat if you ever get the chance.

Basin Mountain (on the left) is the setting for a winter storm, overnight bivouac and rescue in the book. >>

The drive between Bishop and Mammoth was peppered with scenes like these. So nice to view the leaves changing, since we don't really get that where we live in Phoenix.
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The first chapter of CLEAR TO LIFT opens on Mount Morrison on the Death Couloir. That's that black strip in the middle of the face.  >>

More beautiful fall colors at Rock Creek near Mammoth Lakes. The aspen were out of control.
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The Sierra Nevada is known for an interesting weather phenomenon called the Sierra Wave. It's a dazzling sight. >>

I did do some rock climbing with my husband and kids while there. This is Iris Slab near Rock Creek, which is very roughly near Mammoth.
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Triathlete Magazine

Triathlete Magazine ran a lovely feature article about me and my books in their November issue.

For those of you who are not aware, when I'm not writing, I'm coaching triathletes! This has been a full-time job for my husband and me for almost 14 years now.

I specialize in teaching swim technique and was also a competitive swimmer growing up.

Anyhow, it's a huge honor to be featured in such a prestigious magazine.

Thank you, Triathlete!