Meet Laurie Keck and Winter Tales!

Winter Tales (Forget-Me-Not, Oregon Book 3)

Winter Tales, Forget-Me-Not, Oregon, Book 3
When chaos descends, the battle between nature and witch begins…

The universe always demands payment for magic. When a group of naïve teenage boys experiment with elemental magic, the citizens of Forget-Me-Not face a winter storm unlike any other. Chosen for their skills, three witches go head-to-head with nature, teaming with the men from myths and legends who are fated to fight with them.

Winter of Her Discontent
The sea had brought him. The sea could take him away…

As water witch Roane Donnelly faces the biggest challenge of her life, she is unprepared for a man who brings the promise of heartache. Conal Ferguson follows the seven tears to find the sad, lonely woman that will be his. As the ocean water freezes, Conal’s secret brings them together, but will it ultimately tear them apart?

Whiteout
Magic has to be believed to be seen.

As a rancher and author, earth witch Hailey Vose believes she has all she’s ever wanted. Jesse Thorn has left all he knows behind, disappearing from his world to spare his people all-out war. Yet, when he finds Hailey and they collaborate during a crisis, their true natures are revealed. But is there more here than meets the eye?

Snowfire
She’s a fire witch. He’s a dragon. Can their love ignite a miracle?

Flannery Bishop’s fire ability can certainly warm things up for the Forget-Me-Not community, but she could use a little help. Drayce Olden is a dragon shifter that has undergone the mate quest, a strenuous test of courage and endurance to assure only the strongest survive. Together, fire witch and dragon forge an unbreakable bond of love until a secret from Flannery’s childhood threatens to tear her newfound happiness apart.

Excerpt:

Hailey asked, “You don’t want me to go with you?”

He gave a flirty smile. “And have to explain a beautiful maiden suspended in air?” He tilted his head. “Though from what I’m noticing on this peninsula, that may not be a stretch.” He leaned in. “Is everyone here a witch? Magical?”

“Many, but not all. It’s one reason why I and two others were tasked to lead this. Fortunately, there are elemental committees, and they are working to assist.”

“Then you’re clearly one of the most powerful. Doesn’t surprise me. You’ve been able to do what many women have tried to do and failed.”

“What’s that?”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Another time.”

He flashed her a smile, and her heart nearly melted. No, not going to fall for him.

They turned toward the ocean when a loud, melodic sound could be heard emanating behind them. They moved closer and watched as a pod of whales, with calves in their midst, happily traveled through a narrow break in the ice. They exchanged glances when what looked to be a seal seemed to be orchestrating their passage.

Jessie smiled enigmatically. “That’s not an ordinary seal.”

“No?”

He shook his head.

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out and read what had been a delayed, yet urgent, text to both her and Flannery from Roane. She wanted any water or fire witches they encountered to come to Daisy Summers’ cove. They were conjuring a containment system for marine mammals. Hailey made a quick reply and turned to Jesse.

“I think I know where they’re going.”

She showed him the text, and after he read it, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, my turn to help again. Meet you back here?”

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Let’s meet Laurie!

Laurie, welcome to Nomad Authors! I’m so happy to be visiting Forget-Me-Not again!

NA: How did you come up with the idea for your book?
LK: We knew we wanted to do a winter storm and bring in mythical beings as the heroes in the tales. The heroine whose story I wanted to tell, Hailey Vose, had already been established in a prior story as living on a ranch. When thinking what mythical being would go with a ranch, I knew just what I wanted my hero to be, what to me was the obvious choice. I also wanted him to have an edge to him that one may not associate with his kind, and hope that is conveyed.

NA: What sort of research did you do to write this book?
LK: I looked into some ways one might protect crops and land, as well as the behavior of horses, and refreshing myself on some mystical creatures.

NA: What is the main thing you want readers to take away from your book?
LK: We’ve all had events in our lives that have had influence, which have either enhanced us or we are working to overcome, a backstory if you will. Things are not always as they seem, and people are more complex than a first impression.

NA: Do you have a day job? What was your job before you started writing full time?
LK: The last job I held was as a Congressional employee at the U.S. Capitol. I worked in the tour industry for over twenty years, guiding visitors through the building and speaking of its rich history and, in later years, was in a management capacity for the same.

NA: What started you on the path to writing?
LK: My sister Devin. She had been writing for many many years, is an accomplished author, and also a professional editor. She was about to start a new anthology with two other women and asked if I would like to try my hand at it. I was nervous, but decided to give it a try. It was a great opportunity she presented me.

NA: The biggest surprise you had after becoming a writer
LK: How much I love it. Prior to my first story, like many others I’m sure, I had only ever written poetry to express myself, since the time of my youth. To then be able to come up with characters, ones that I like, that I may wish to be like and would like to have in my own life, and also create an environment, it is purely magical.

NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
LK: Definitely a by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer. I have very few concrete ideas of where I am going with something aside from the concept. Once I have my two main characters, usually inspired by a photograph, and have them in my head, they just evolve from there and then they are so much fun to get to know.

NA: Do you have quirky writing habits?
LK: I don’t know that it is, but I think it is. I tend to write scenes on a separate open page, mainly if they aren’t in sequence. So, I do a lot of the main manuscript with lots of little sections on another. I have open notes of research and highlighted sections. The other thing I do is when I get to a point where I don’t know where I want to go with the story, come to a lull, I go out on my back porch for a break. I no sooner do than suddenly dialogue or a scene comes to mind, and I go back in and write it.

NA: Which kind of scenes are the hardest for you to write? Action, dialogue, sex?
LK: Writing sex is the hardest. I enjoy writing affection and dialogue where the characters express feelings to one another, flirty banter, but the act itself, I would prefer not to write.

NA: A pet peeve.
LK: I really don’t like things out of place for any length of time. Papers strewn about, receipts lying around, are probably the worse for me.

NA: First thought when the alarm goes off in the in the morning?
LK: My dogs. I have two small dogs presently. Usually one is at the side greeting me when I wake, and it is such a wonderful waking.

NA: What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
LK: Singer/ songwriter Roch Voisine. What can I say? I write romance, and to me, he is romance personified. So, to spend any time with him, let alone a dinner, would be a dream come true.

NA: What are you working on now?
LK: More stories to take place in the town of Forget-Me-Not. A wonderful town, so many great characters, so many stories to tell. I hope this series goes on a long time. I feel such an affection for this town, and the characters that have already been written by the three of us in this series, that I know there are many more to tell.

NA: Is there anything else you’d like to say?
LK: I would enjoy hearing feedback from readers as to how they feel about the town, the characters, the stories. I would particularly like to hear what they might want to read about in this created town of Forget-Me-Not. Is there a particular holiday or event they would like to see take place in the town? A particular character they might like to see emerge onto the scene? Write us, and we can make that happen.

Meet the authors

Devin Govaere is a freelance editor and fiction writer. She has published over a dozen novels and fourteen novellas, writing under her own name as well as several pseudonyms. She lives in North Carolina and can be contacted at dgovaere@gmail.com.
https://www.devingovaere.com/

Laurie Keck has a passion for writing stories about true love. She enjoys quiet time in natural surroundings with her two small dogs. Laurie lives in North Carolina, and as much as she enjoys the ocean, she is equally fond of the mountains. She can be contacted at laurieKeck@hotmail.com.
https://www.lauriekeck.com/

Maggie McBay enjoys writing paranormal stories filled with romance and suspense. She has published several novels and novellas, writing under her own name as well as several pseudonyms. Touched with a bit of wanderlust, she’s lived in several states over the years and looks forward to traveling in the near future. You can contact Maggie at maggiemcbay@gmail.com.
http://www.maggiemcbay.com/

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