Friday, November 15, 2019

TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS


Latest release: Street Dog Dreams
ebook just 99 cents!
or print $3.99

Most of the time, I duck my head while the holidays whiz past. 

Recently I thought, What if I actually take the time to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas and the upcoming New Year? What would that look like? How would that feel?

RELAXED AND RESTED WITH A MINIMUM OF EFFORT!

So how do I get there? Check out my ideas at the Rogue's Angels' blog!

Friday, October 18, 2019

ALL TREATS--for you and shelter dogs!

"Ace was my first shelter dog. A Border Collie mix with golden eyes that mesmerized me, and I knew instantly he was smarter than most people. He convinced me some of the best dogs come from the shelter." –from I Want to Have the Heart of a Dog

October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month – and I have!
I have certainly taken the message of this month to heart! Not all of my doggies over the years have come from a shelter, but many have. As a writer, most of my books have pets as featured characters. Some are based on dogs who have owned me. Others are composites of dogs I have known.

The book, I Want to Have the Heart of a Dog, is personal. An intriguingly different look at one woman’s recovery from several lifetimes of abuse, betrayal and violent deaths--guided by dogs whose hearts contain the simple and miraculous knowledge of the Universe.

Buy it now!
Kindle version just 99 cents 
Paperback $4.99

Here's what readers are saying:
“Very touching and compelling...I was moved to tears and laughter...” – BJH

"Love it." – KP 

"If you have ever had a beloved pet you will want to read this story, but have the box of tissues ready...The book stuck with me even after I finished the last page...truly an inspiring read." – CB 

"You will find many insights into yourselves and your life with your pets."  – Allana 


Want to win a print copy?

I'm giving away an autographed print copy of I Want to Have the Heart of a Dog. Just leave a comment below (If the winner is outside the U.S., I will send an Amazon gift card.) Contest ends Sunday at midnight, October 20, 2019. 

Saturday, September 21, 2019

PRE-ORDER NOW!

My latest novella is available for pre-order.
STREET DOG DREAMS
will be just 99 cents for a limited time!
Official release date: October 1, 2019

What if dogs were royalty and humans their loyal servants? Hop aboard our invisible flying machine as Aunt Maddie and Uncle Horace join an international search for a new dogdom. The Royal Canines are recruiting street dogs who want a better life with devoted humans who speak the language of dogs. As foretold in an enchanted tapestry, their dream will turn an abandoned village in Sardinia, Italy, into an automated town where dogs can open their own refrigerators, play in the park all day, and always have a soft bed to sleep on--after they take a shower, of course!

Print version is available NOW for $3.99.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Humorous Book Giveaway!

I'm participating
with twelve other authors
to give away humorous books!


Want a chance to win a bundle of 12+ humorous books?
and enter for a chance to win.
Giveaway runs from September 17-23, 2019.



Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Enter to Win a Humorous Dog Book!

Like dogs?
Like books?
Now you can have both!
Stop by my sister blog
and comment for 
a chance to win one of five
digital copies of
CHRISTMAS PAWSIBILITIES
With their world destroyed and their space ship malfunctioning, the dogizens of Planet Canid crash land on Earth. They face tortuous experiments at the hands of GIG, unless they trust a zany family to deliver the Canine Queen's puppies and help them build new lives.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Back on the Road with the Rock'n'Romance Series


One more comeback. That was Zach Zacata's dream. Another run at platinum records and sold out concerts. 

Zach is running a race with his aging body for one more taste of stardom. Then he can claim Lauren Westover's love. Then he won't be the victim of his ragged childhood any longer. 

But Fate has a few surprises in store for Zach that will force him to decide what is truly important to him. 

Available in digital version
JUST 99 CENTS
and print


EXCERPT from The Leader of the Band

Don't you die on me too, Zach Zacata. The thought ricocheted through Lauren Westover's mind in tandem with the spotlights flashing across the stage. 

Lauren ran across the auditorium toward Zach, straight into a time warp of memories that pushed Zach as far away as the galaxy of stars racing across the video screen behind him. 

...The intensity in his laser blue eyes the first day they met. The crisp softness of the hair dusting his chest the first time they made love. The devastating pain in her soul when he left her the first time... 

Matt reached Zach before Lauren did. Somber-faced, totally focused on the task at hand, as he had been when Lauren left him at the door of his first grade classroom a dozen years ago. When had her little boy become a man? 

Matt worked quickly, loosening Zach's shirt with sure fingers, leaning over his chest, checking the pulse beating at his throat. "Give me some space." 

The other band members stepped back as Matt eased Zach down onto the floor. "Roll up that jacket and tuck it under his knees." 

The down-filled jacket smelled like the crisp, new snow that had fallen last night as Lauren and Zach walked along the river. Her first night in Idaho in a very long time. 

"Is he alright?" Lauren's voice reflected none of the panic threatening to explode in her chest. 

"His heartbeat is a little erratic and his breathing is slightly shallow." Matt continued to monitor the pulse at Zach's neck. 

"Should we call an ambulance?" 

The question reminded Lauren that others were in the rehearsal hall. Slowly, her vision focused on an elfin woman-child with spiky white-blonde hair and a metal loop piercing her navel. The young woman rubbed her arms in a hug, the gooseflesh obvious beneath the cropped and spangled top she wore over a silver metallic mini-skirt. 

A practical question, but ambulances meant death, and Lauren wasn't ready for Zach to die. "Everybody take five while we see what's going on." 

A murmur of comments arose from the semi-circle of band members gathered around Zach. 

"Damned inconvenient." A scowl settled on the pretty face of the lead singer as he grabbed a pack of cigarettes. "We're booked to record in L.A. in two days." He hooked a cigarette into the corner of his mouth and stomped out of the room. 

Lauren didn't wait to see what the other band members did. She turned her attention back to Zach, longing to see his crooked grin kick up on one side of his mouth as mischief sparked in his eyes. She didn't know what to do with this pale, still man lying on the floor. 

"Why don't you bring a glass of water?" Matt met Lauren's gaze as a moment of shared sorrow and loss stretched between them. "Zach will be fine, Mom." 

Would he really? Or did Matt simply know that's what Lauren needed to hear? 

Lauren rose and hurried to the bathroom next to Zach's private recording studio. She filled a glass with water, staring at the woman in the mirror. 

A lifetime of preparing for beauty pageants ensured that none of the fear clenching her belly reflected in her blue eyes. None of the helplessness turning her limbs to jelly sagged along the oval of her jaw line. 

Never show the world what you're really feeling, her daddy had advised. Yet that stiff upper lip came at the emotional cost of not letting anyone close enough to love her. 

Water splashed over the rim of the glass and onto the mauve silk of Lauren's blouse. She stared at the stain spreading across the fabric, as her husband's blood had done three short years ago. Lauren shivered. Zach would be fine. 
As the door to the rehearsal hall swooshed closed behind Lauren, Zach looked up from where he was sitting at a console built to resemble the command center of a starship. 

The crooked grin he aimed at Lauren wavered a bit as he accepted the glass of water she held out to him. "Ah, thanks, cherí. I am a little thirsty." 

The band's elfin singer hovered near Zach's shoulder. "You frippin' scared us half to death." 

"Cricket's right." Lauren examined Zach's face closely. He still seemed pale. "Perhaps you should see a doctor." 

"Just some indigestion." Zach brushed the comments aside. 

"Too much greasy food," Cricket scolded Zach. "I offered to share my tofu burger." 

"Ew, please." Zach made a comical face. "You really will make me sick. Where are Dane and Jerry?" 

"Dane went to some party," Matt replied. "Jerry's wife said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to go home." 

Zach blew out a breath and nodded slowly. "Let's call it a night." 

Cricket frowned. "It's barely midnight." 

"Then the party will just be getting started. Go." Zach made a dismissive motion with one hand. "I'll keep Lauren occupied so she doesn't spoil all the fun." 

"Well, if you're sure." Cricket still sounded uncertain. 

"I'm sure." Zach's trademark grin was now firmly in place. 

"Okay." With a kiss on the cheek for Zach, Cricket turned to the band's drummer. "How much will it cost me to bum a ride with you, amigo?" 

The younger man's dark eyes lit with mischief. "We can negotiate on the way." 

As they disappeared, Zach nudged Matt with his elbow. "Aren't you going to party?" 

"I'll stay here a while. I have a song to work on." 

"You're too responsible, my boy," Zach said. "You need to have some fun." 

Matt just smiled slightly and settled onto a stool with his guitar. Within seconds, he was immersed in the music drifting in perfect tune from the old instrument. 

"The kid really is talented, you know," Zach said. 

Lauren stared at Zach. Was she imagining the exhaustion shadowing his eyes and deepening the lines around his mouth? "Yes, I know." 

With Zach's arm over Lauren's shoulders, they walked through the glass-walled corridor that connected the rehearsal hall and auditorium to Zach's main house. Questions continued to tumble through Lauren's mind. Doubts and fears that she didn't express, lest giving them voice would lend them power. 

A flurry of snowflakes blew against the floor to ceiling windows, making Lauren glad she had purchased warmer clothing for the weather in the Idaho mountains. Yet the thought of traveling to sunny Los Angeles in two days brought a chill no amount of warm clothing could dispel. 

Was she crazy to think she could do this? 

(Copyright Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel)

Friday, August 16, 2019

Flashback to The Rock Star!

Posted by: Genie Gabriel

My first published book, THE ROCK STAR, was written and rewritten and edited and stripped down to the main characters and rewritten from nearly the ground up at least six times. At each major aha! writing realization--usually at a conference--this book would receive major editing surgery. 

Finally, the edits weren't so dramatic. Just a few words here and there or rearranging dialogue. My book baby was ready to meet the world. But the "world" at that time consisted of six major New York publishing houses flooded with thousands of hopeful book babies looking for a home. Mine came close, but no sale!

Then ebook publishers began cropping up, hungry for new material to offer readers looking for alternatives to what the handful of New York publishers offered. One of those publishers offered a contract for THE ROCK STAR, and a published book was born!



Still available in digital --
ONLY 99 CENTS--
as well as print versions, 
I hope you enjoy this excerpt of THE ROCK STAR.

EXCERPT

Spotlights flashed in rainbows across the stage. Red. Green. Blue. Crisscrossing until they merged into one white-hot light on Geoff Chastain’s face, evoking memories of other times. The screams of thousands of teenaged girls washed through his memory as he pulled the microphone from its stand. 

The first notes of his daughter's favorite song filled the auditorium and his breath caught, jagged, in his chest. Pain pulsed through Geoff's heart with each beat of the drum. He nearly dropped to his knees, longing to crawl back into the self-imposed exile where he had existed since his daughter died. 

The faces of the kids in wheelchairs looked up at him with bright expectation. The whispers of the singers waiting in the stage wings curled around him in concern. 

Daddy, promise you won’t let the music die. His daughter’s last request haunted Geoff. He never suspected life would become so desolate he would forget to eat and sleep, let alone lose touch with the music that had always flowed so easily from his soul. 

A singer moved from the wings to stand beside him. Her presence drifted around him in silent encouragement. Her sweet contralto coaxed him to sing with her. 

Focus, he ordered his brain, staring at the woman. Waves of auburn hair framed her face, then tumbled halfway down a lush body barely covered in spandex and sequins. A woman designed to stir a man to action. 

Geoff's voice rasped with disuse on the first verse; the woman's harmony covered it. As he started the second verse, an image of his daughter swam before his eyes and Geoff's throat closed. The woman picked up the melody without missing a beat, as if they had planned this duet. 

He grasped at her hand and drew a deep breath. Her soft scent filled his nostrils, drawing his attention away from the pain. Giving him the strength to dig deep inside where the music had lain in silent mourning. 

Geoff's voice mingled with hers on the chorus, then soared as he soloed the third verse. Their voices chased each other through the final refrain, then their eyes met and held on the last triumphant note. Awed silence hung for a moment before applause erupted and the crowd was in motion. 

A sea of well-wishers swarmed onto the stage. Not the frenzied near-riots of years ago, but the exuberant cheer of celebration. Smiles and congratulations wrapped warmly around Geoff as men pumped his hand and women kissed his cheek. 


But the mysterious auburn-haired woman who saved his musical butt had disappeared. 

(Copyright Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel)

Monday, July 29, 2019

Enter for a Chance to Win a FREE ebook: Christmas Pawsibilities!

TAPESTRIES IN TIME IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
Just 99 cents for a limited time!

To celebrate the release of the anthology, TAPESTRIES IN TIME (which features my novella, Street Dog Dreams)  I'm giving away copies of the ebook, Christmas Pawsibilities, to five commenters. The Royal Canines are introduced in this book when their space ship crash lands on Earth. 

The follow-up story, Street Dog Dreams, tracks the misadventures of their search for a new dogdom with humans who know dogs are more than cuddly fur babies who take over your bed. 


For a chance to win a FREE digital copy of Christmas Pawsibilities, comment below. I'd love to hear about the pet who has claimed your heart. (Or just leave a comment with your email address to be contacted if you are a winner.)

The contest runs through midnight PDT on Sunday, August 4, 2019.
P.S. PLEASE BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL 
IN YOUR COMMENT SO I CAN CONTACT IF YOU ARE A WINNER!

LATEST RELEASE: TAPESTRIES IN TIME ANTHOLOGY!



Tapestries in Time
by
Christine Young
C. L. Kraemer
Genie Gabriel

The newest release from
Rogue Phoenix Press
is ready for preorder.
$0.99
for a limited time

Taylor's Destiny
Enjoying a day of sailing, Taylor Maxwell never expected after a suffering a concussion she would wake up in another century. A resilient independent woman in the twenty-first century, the blond beauty is ill prepared for life in the 1800s. Her first sight of the naval captain who rescues her makes her heart stop, giving her hope for her future.
Born to a life of ease, Reid Stewart defies the dictates of those born to aristocracy and chooses a life of adventure in the navy and as a spy for the crown. When he discovers a nearly naked woman on the bow of small sailing ship, his heart warms. His love for Taylor and his need to protect her from a man who pursues her might cost him his life as well as hers.

Sardinian Sunset
What starts as a crazy idea to buy a house for less than the price of a cappuccino, becomes the journey into Olivia Francesca Porcu Martin’s ancestry. The home she purchases was in her family for generations until her grandmother fled to America.
Olivia is fleeing but not a war-torn island. She is searching for roots and will find them in a small town in the hills of Sardinia. 

Crossing paths with a student traveler named Destiny, opens doors Olivia felt had been closed forever. It doesn’t hurt that the licensed Contractor named Rafaele, who wins the bid to help her remodel her home, is good looking and modest. 

Two determined, independent Sardinian souls make Destiny’s job difficult on the best of days. But as we all know, you can’t fight Destiny.
.
Street Dog Dreams
What if dogs were royalty and humans their loyal servants? Hop aboard our invisible flying machine as Aunt Maddie and Uncle Horace join an international search for a new dogdom. The Royal Canines are recruiting street dogs who want a better life with devoted humans who speak the language of dogs. As foretold in an enchanted tapestry, their dream will turn an abandoned village in Sardinia, Italy, into an automated town where dogs can open their own refrigerators, play in the park all day, and always have a soft bed to sleep on--after they take a shower, of course!

Friday, July 19, 2019

A Quieter Display of Freedom

Since I have dogs with sensitive ears, the loud booms of fireworks are not my celebration of choice for this birthday month of the nation where I live. In a quieter pursuit, I searched the Internet for quotes about freedom. What I found was a fascinating array of thoughts from historical figures, fashion designers, rock musicians and, of course, authors, as well as many others. 
If you're curious, I invite you to do your own search for "freedom"–in quotations, definitions or your own words. And share what has special meaning for you on the Rogue Phoenix Press blog for a chance to win a FREE digital copy of one of my romantic suspense novels, CHASING THE LEGACY. (Or just leave a comment with your email address to be contacted if you are a winner.)
Chasing the Legacy
The contest runs through midnight PDT on Sunday, July 21.
In this romantic adventure, 
a newspaper reporter 
with a penchant for flashy shoes 
uncovers an explosive story 
that could shatter lives 
and defuse her budding love 
with a soft-spoken bomb tech.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

Available for Pre-Order!

I just heard from my publisher that digital copies of MORE THAN A STAR TRAVELER are available for pre-order at only 99 cents. Official release date is April 1--no foolin'!

* STARGATES * DOGS WITH ANGEL CONNECTIONS *
* MOTHERS WITH SHOTGUNS * AND LOVE THAT LASTS MANY LIFETIMES *
This is the second book of my Collie Chronicles series that features three generations of strong, independent women driven in different directions by one man's anger. Until his death reconnects them with their mystical Irish ancestors, love they never imagined, wonders beyond this limited human existence and, of course, Collies.

Comment below for a chance to win 
one of five copies of book 1 of this series!

To celebrate this latest release, I'm offering five FREE copies of the first book of my Collie Chronicles series, More Than Just a Dog, to randomly drawn commenters. Just comment on this blog. (Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you are a winner.) I'd love to know if there has been a special dog in your life!

P.S. The contest will run through midnight on Saturday, March 16 (Pacific Daylight Time).

Friday, January 18, 2019

Collies, stargates and mothers with shotguns--COVER REVEAL!



I'm really excited about my April 1 release, 
More Than a Star Traveler! 
Above is the cover for this second book in my Collie Chronicles series, 
continuing the journey and discoveries of three generations of independent women. 
Driven in different directions by the anger of one man, his death reconnects them 
with their mystical Irish ancestors and wonders beyond this limited human existence.

If you want to read the first book of this series, 
More Than Just a Dog, 

Print version is also available for $4.99.



(My beloved Collie is on the cover of both of these books!)

NOW A STAND-ALONE BOOK!


Originally released as part of the anthology,
Once Upon a Christmas Moon,
my novella,
Christmas Pawsibilities,
is now available as a standalone book!