Looking Forward with Hope (Creek)

An eighth book coming in the Rainbow Rock series (watch for DANNY'S GIRL), a second on the way for the Maggie Rising Case Files (title pending) and a life to maintain. You'd think I'd have plenty to do--and I do! Yet somehow in the middle of all this, my agent planted a seed which is growing into a whole new series. Sometime in 2014 it will bear its first fruit, a medical romance set in the fictional town of Hope Creek, California. Here's the town's story:

As the California Gold Rush drew to a close, a small party of miners found color in the Sierra foothills overlooking the Sacramento Valley. A few men filed claims on Last Hope Creek and were rewarded when they struck a rich vein. When even that played out, the Last Hope Mine closed, but the town surrounding it continued, driven largely by tourism in its four-block stretch of Old Town and visitors to the shored-up tunnel of Lost Hope Mine.

One other economic engine keeps the town alive: The Hope Creek Medical Center began in the late 19th century as a sanitarium for "consumption" victims, built around the area's small hot spring. It's now a large, modern special services hospital and regional trauma center. Most of the stories in this series will be centered at HCMC featuring its medical personnel. 

There's also a great, recurring character I'm already learning to love. A mysterious figure who appeared out of nowhere to open a "Beans and Brew" shop in Old Town, Madam Esmeralda sells coffee and tea, predicts the weather and presidential elections, and tells customers about their future love lives. As Hope Creek rumor has it, if Madam Esmeralda tells you about the coming thunderstorm or the next president, she'll be wrong, but if she predicts a romance in your future, you're already on your way down the aisle.

I'm looking forward to working with Caro and Sean, the orthopedic surgeon and trauma device sales rep who are the subjects of the first novel, and to an ongoing friendship with Madam Esmeralda. I'll share more about Hope Creek as the series develops. Stay tuned! 

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.

Return to Rainbow Rock

It's been 18 years since RIDE THE RAINBOW HOME, the first book in the Rainbow Rock series, was published as a hardcover Avalon romance. My then-editor loved it and asked to see another with the same setting and some of the same characters. Five more hardback Avalon novels followed making a total of six in the Rainbow Rock series, the last one out in 1999.

One day last fall I felt the sudden urge to go back to my favorite fictional town to see what's been happening since I was last there. I remembered Marcie Carmody and what a spoiled, bratty teen she was when she first came to Rainbow Rock in Book #4, A LITTLE NIGHT RAINBOW. What if she had grown up and finished high school in Rainbow Rock and then returned, sadder but wiser, several years later?

Since "what it?" is the core of almost every fictional story, I knew I had something to work with and when Ryan Fields showed up in my imagination, I knew where Marcie's story was headed. It seemed only appropriate to call the new book RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK since Marcie and I were both returning for the first time in years.

The seventh and newest book in the Rainbow Rock series, RETURN is now available. It's the first book in a whole new series all set in the same fictional town. Here is how it begins:

CHAPTER ONE

Late February

The sun was setting behind her, lighting the clouds ahead in delicate pastels that would have been beautiful on any other day. It was the kind of winter sunset tourists came to the desert to find, but Marcie Carmody only found it worrisome. “Dammit,” she muttered, slamming her hand against the steering wheel and pushing hard on the accelerator. It was bad enough to be crawling home broken and defeated. She didn’t want to have to call for rescue just because the lights on her old clunker had shorted out somewhere this side of San Bernardino.

She passed Joseph City on her way to Holbrook, grateful for light traffic on I-40. “Can’t you make it twenty more minutes?” she grumbled aloud. With luck, the miles would run out before the last of the light.

That was when she spotted the highway patrol car sitting under a billboard for the Sagebrush Trading Post: “See our Jackelope! Cold Cherry Cider!” As she passed, she glanced down at her speedometer and groaned to realize she was going some fifteen miles per hour above the limit. She wasn’t at all surprised to see the trooper pull in behind her and light her up. She ran a hand through her unruly auburn curls.“Dammit twice!” She slowed and pulled to the shoulder. “This is not my day. Or my week, month or year, for that matter.”

 

 

I hope you'll want to return to Rainbow Rock right alongside Marcie and me and I hope you enjoy coming "home" as much as I have.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels, ten of which are now available for ebook readers. The 11th will be available before the end of September and a 12th is under contract. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd grandchild is expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers at www.susanaylworth.com, susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.

Back from the Dead...

So I have to be honest: I didn't die. I just felt like it for a few weeks there. Blame it on heredity or misusing my good health when I was younger or whatever you like. The fact is I have weak, crumbly joints getting weaker by the day.

Last February I went to see the best knee doctor in the world (I hope!) for joint replacement surgery on my right knee. It was cake. I sailed through and was back to my normal exercise regimen within a month. That meant the left knee was going to be a cakewalk too, right?

Not so. It's now been six weeks and I probably have a couple more to go before I can even start rebuilding the old exercise regimen. Who knows why this one has been so much more difficult? If I complain about it to the surgeon or my physical therapist, the only answer I get is, "Every knee is different. Who knows why this one is tougher?"

It wasn't until today that I got up the energy to notice it's actually been a month since my last blog. My sincere apologies, folks. I may not be fully back in the saddle, but I'm calling myself 'back from the dead.' That makes for an interesting coincidence since one of the major characters in my newest story is literally back from the dead.

MAGGIE RISING has just recently gone live on Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, Smashwords, and a variety of other ebook platforms. Here are some of the rave reviews it has already received:

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh ideas, believable paranormal plot, fun page turner August 26, 2013

By Pat

A great fun read, hard to put down. Maggie is believable as a mature-beyond-her-years high school senior who is trying to make tuition money as a psychic who doesn't believe in psychics. Until she starts getting visits from ghosts! When she tells the police what she knows, SHE gets arrested. What follows, and the different reactions of all the people around her, show a lot about human nature. In many ways the relationships are more important than the visits from the ghost. A fun and thoughtful read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing! August 25, 2013

By Heather Moore

I've enjoyed all of the Susan Aylworth's books I've read, and MAGGIE RISING is no exception. Maggie is a psychic, at least as much as anyone can be--she knows a few tricks. But when she's faced with real danger and a false murder accusation, she realizes she's much closer to the other side than she could have ever believed. The only problem is that it's pretty much impossible to tell the cops that a ghost has been talking to her. MAGGIE RISING is intriguing from the start, and I read it practically straight through (I did have to get some sleep at one point). Great characters, suspenseful plot, and Aylworth's talented writing makes for one fabulous read!

I'd love to see many more stars in Maggie's galaxy. In the meantime, the newest Rainbow Rock book is almost ready to go live . . . but more about that next week. Stay tuned: Like our former governor, I'll be back.  ;-)

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels, ten of which are now available for ebook readers. The 11th will be available before the end of September and a 12th is under contract. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd grandchild is expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers at www.susanaylworth.com, susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.

The Dead -- Going Live!

Last entry I commented on two new books that are "coming attractions." One of them, MAGGIE RISING, is about to go live--which is a pretty funny joke when I think about it, since one of the main characters is a ghost.  The book begins like this:

On the last day of the year, I sat in my Great-Aunt Betty’s reading parlor staring at the framed story cloth on the wall. The embroidered figures showed the cycle of planting, harvest, and New Year in a Southeast Asian village. One figure, the “doctor” or shaman, told a different story. If I had never seen him, maybe I never would have been arrested for murder, spent time in jail, or befriended a ghost. Or I might have, anyway. It’s possible I was already on that path.

The story is about Maggie, a 17-year-old Chico (California) girl who does not believe in ghosts; ghosts, however, seem to believe in her. When the Chico High School homecoming queen goes missing, the police are certain she's just another run-away, but Maggie knows differently. Here's a bit of the scene that helps Maggie know. It occurs while she is sleeping:

I stood in the Children’s Playground next to Bidwell Presbyterian. I looked around, wondering how I’d gotten here and why I’d come. That’s when I noticed a pretty blonde girl watching me. She was leaning on the uprights for the swings, but as I looked her way she walked toward me. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. I looked behind me to see if maybe her focus was actually directed elsewhere, but we were alone. As she came toward me, she gave a half-smile and asked, “Remember me?"



“You look familiar,” I answered, searching my memory.

“Lauren Hall,” she said. “I was in the same class as you, but at Chico High instead of Pleasant Valley.”

“Lauren Hall?” I didn’t yet remember her from high school, but I certainly remembered the name. “The missing Homecoming Queen?”

“The murdered Homecoming Queen,” she answered. “I met my murderer right here in Children’s Park during lunch last Wednesday.”

I swallowed, unsure how to speak to a murdered girl, let alone a murdered Homecoming Queen. “So…you’re dead?”

She rolled her eyes. “And everybody said you were smart.” She plunked down on the bench a little way from me.

The challenge is simple enough: How do two 17-year-old girls solve a murder when one of them is dead and the other is in jail, charged with her murder? I had great fun writing this one. You'll have great fun reading it, too! Watch for it to go live sometime later this week or early next. Thanks!

Susan Aylworth is a multi-published novelist who has worked with three major publishers: Harlequin/Silhouette, Avalon and Covenant Communications.  MAGGIE RISING, her 11th finished novel, is the first to be released as a digital-first publication. Find it soon on any popular digital book platform (Amazon, B&N.com, Kobo, Smashwords, etc.) In the meantime, you can read any of her first eight books in digital format or order the paper copies. She loves to hear from readers at susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.

Previews of Coming Attractions

Two new books out at once? When has that ever happened to me before? Umm... never? But it's happening now and I could hardly be more excited.  The final cover designs are still pending, but I have a mock-up for one of them. Here's the general look for my new YA paranormal detective/ghost story/murder mystery novel, MAGGIE RISING:

Pretty, huh? (I'm thrilled!) Below is the mock-up for the new Rainbow Rock book, Book #7, RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK:

The painting is called "Rolling Clouds" and was painted by the same artist (Ken Spencer @ www.jkenspencer.com) who did the other Rainbow Rock covers. My lovely daughter-in-law, Stephanie Aylworth, did the cover design. The process is happening, the covers are looking good, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Susan Aylworth is the author of 12 novels, the last two shown above. Most of them are currently available for digital download. She is delighted to hear from readers @ susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth. Visit her web site at www.susanaylworth.com.