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Fatal Fraud

Hi there,
Happy September! I hope that wherever you are, this month is treating you well, especially those of you who are sending kids back to school or continuing to home school your little ones. Whatever challenges you’re facing, I hope you’re being kind to yourself. I heard someone say recently that we’re all doing the best we can to get through these trying times, which is important to remember when it seems like too much. 

I enjoyed some time off from writing in August, but now I’m back to work on the one thing I can do to help my readers navigate these crazy times—write more books to give you an escape from reality. I’ll tell you ALL about the upcoming books below, including the first look at Chapter One of FATAL FRAUD, but first, I want to show you what’s new in my online store! (And make sure you read to the end for some new pics of Sam Sullivan and his latest adventures!)

New In the Store!

Car Decal

While we were off, my girls and I were working behind the scenes to bring you some fun new merchandise items, including a new bumper sticker for your car that says “I’d rather be reading a Marie Force book,” from creator Jennifer Lorin, and a face mask with the same saying on it. Both of these are now for sale in the store along with a restock of sizes M, L and XL for our new anchor hoodies, which sold out fast. Also coming soon will be MORE of our series-themed boxes. This time we’ll offer them WITH and WITHOUT the books. So if you already have the books and just want the loot, we've gotcha covered. More on that coming soon (and let me just say, my cousin Jean and I got some GOOD stuff for these boxes—I'm so excited about them!) 

Mask

Get your print books from the store!

Fatal Fraud

ALL 82 of my books are for sale in print in my online store, and when you buy them there, they come signed and personalized! Everyone who buys something from the store this fall will also get our brand new bookmark celebrating the release of my 80th book in August! Preorder FATAL FRAUD now to receive it BEFORE release day (we aim to ship the Thursday before, as long as the books arrive in time). Click on the links below to buy signed copies of the full series at a discount:

Gansett Island        Fatal        Vermont         

Quantum        Treading Water        Miami Nights   

Gilded        Single Titles

New Books!

I’m super, duper excited for the release of FATAL FRAUD in just over a month. Trust me when I tell you, this is a book you want to read on DAY ONE. How often have you heard me say that? Hardly ever, right? But this time I mean it! Read the just-posted first look at Chapter One and preorder FATAL FRAUD right now at marieforce.com/fatalfraud to read the rest of the book the second it’s released. It’s also coming in print and in audio with Eva Kaminski back as the voice of the series in this exciting new chapter in Sam and Nick’s story. Did I mention I’m crazy excited about this book? Just making sure! LOL

Fatal Fraud

Also coming soon is LET IT BE, Linc and Molly Abbott’s Butler, Vermont story, out on Christmas Eve. I’m loving revisiting how Linc and Molly met and fell in love and staging that in the context of a new challenge for them and their family that has me very intrigued. Preorder LET IT BE at marieforce.com/letitbe. After that is BLACKOUT AFTER DARK, a full cast visit as the Gansett Island community contends with a days’ long power failure during the dog days of summer. We’ll catch up with all our favorite couples and characters as they sweat it out during the power failure and meet some new island residents who’ll figure into future books. I can’t wait to write this one! Preorder BLACKOUT AFTER DARK at marieforce.com/blackoutafterdark.

Let It Be
Blackout After Dark

Change of Plan for the Miami Nights Series!

Last week, I announced a change of plan for how this series will be released going forward. Here is what I said on Facebook: 

Change of Plan! I want you to know I heard my AppleBooks, Nook, Kobo and GooglePlay readers who were unhappy that my new Miami Nights series wasn't available on your platforms. I can't do anything about book 1, HOW MUCH I FEEL, because that was published by Amazon. You can get a free Kindle app on any device that accepts apps to read that one or get it in print or audio. Signed copies are for sale in my store along with HOW MUCH I CARE. However, I can change up the plan for the other books. So here's the deal:

HOW MUCH I CARE, Book 2, will LEAVE Kindle Unlimited on or around November 18 and be available on ALL digital platforms, including AppleBooks, Nook, Kobo and GooglePlay. Before Nov. 18, you can still read it for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited subscription or buy it for Kindle. It's also available for print and audio. Find the links for HOW MUCH I CARE at marieforce.com/howmuchicare.

HOW MUCH I LOVE, Book 3, will be released on ALL retailers on March 9, as well as in print and audio. One month later, on or around April 9, HOW MUCH I LOVE will leave AppleBooks, Nook, Kobo and GooglePlay to do a three-month tour in Kindle Unlimited. After that, it will return to all retailers. Future Miami Nights books will follow this routine.

HOW MUCH I LOVE is now available for preorder in ebook format on ALL retailers at marieforce.com/howmuchilove. Do you have questions? Please feel free to reply to this email, and I'll be sure to remind you of how this will go when we get closer to the release of HOW MUCH I LOVE. I'll also let you know when HOW MUCH I CARE is on sale everywhere. Thanks for your patience with this new routine for the Miami Nights Series!

How Much I Care
How Much I Love

Reader Q&A

This past weekend, we held a virtual Reader Weekend to catch up with our Reader Weekend friends, who were sad we had to cancel this year’s event due to COVID. We’re making plans for a Fatal-themed Reader Weekend 2021 in Washington, DC, in June 2021, and have recently added two outings to the registration—one of them a daytime bus tour of the hot spots in the Fatal Series and the other a night-time tour of the monuments that’s not to be missed. Registration is now open for 2021 and we do expect this event to sell out, so please register soon if you'd like to attend.

As part of last Sunday’s virtual Reader Weekend, attendees asked a lot of questions. I included some that we didn’t get to in the live Zoom chat below so everyone can see them. (We’re working on getting the Zoom chat added to YouTube and other online sites and will post a link when we have it.)

Bonnie asked: How did you research Little Havana for Miami Nights books?
I read everything I could find about the area and took a trip to Miami in December that included a half-day tour of Little Havana. I absolutely LOVED the tour and everything I learned that day. I also had the help of a woman who was raised in Little Havana, which was absolutely invaluable. 

Peggy asked: Are you working on your next Fatal book?
The first chapter of the next book will be included in the back of
Fatal Fraud. :-)

Nancy asked: I love Sam & Nick—do you actually write in DC?
No, I write at home in Rhode Island. I used to live and work in the DC area, though, so I have more than a passing familiarity with it. My assistant, Julie, is a native and is always able to help me with the details. My new editor on the series, Joyce, also lived there for many years and knows so much about the area, which is also very helpful.

Melinda asked: What advice do you have for a young aspiring author?
I would first and foremost tell them to write. A LOT. People like to talk about how to get published, but new authors often don’t ask the most important questions about the craft of writing. That’s where to start. Worry about getting published after you have a viable, well-critiqued, well-edited book. I have more advice for authors on my website at
marieforce.com/faq.

Helen asked: What was your inspiration for writing Miami series?
As I mentioned in the back of
How Much I Feel, Miami and South Florida have played a role in my life, because my dad absolutely loved it there and took us with him on many a trip there when we were growing up. I’ve always wanted to set a book there, and this series was a perfect fit.

Emily asked: What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
I love everything about “making shit up” for a living. LOL! That’s what my friends and family say I do. It’s so fun to dream up characters and settings and then give them challenges and obstacles to overcome on their road to happily ever after. I can’t imagine anything more fun than that!

JoAnn asked: Hope you enjoyed your vacation. My question is what's the longest you ever went without writing?
Thank you! I did enjoy the time off from writing, but I only lasted about 17 days before I was DYING to write again. LOL! For me, writing rarely ever feels like work. It’s so much fun and my brain is used to operating at that level, and when it wasn’t allowed to, I found myself kinda bored and aimless. So I went back to writing a little, just enough to keep me happy while still on vacation. I’m hopeless! The good news for you and other readers who enjoy my books is that you don’t need to worry about me retiring any time soon. :-)

Kasey asked: Any new single titles?
No new single titles in the works at the moment, but a couple of characters from past books have my attention, such as Miles from Five Years Gone and a few others here and there. My brain is always thinking up new story ideas!

Patti asked: Will the readers weekend be going back to Rhode Island in the future?
Yes, Reader Weekend 2022 is back in Rhode Island in July 22, and my goal is to have it in RI every other year going forward while taking it on the road to involve more readers in remote locations in the future. (I haven’t told Julie that yet, so shhhhh… LOL)

Gail asked: There are several men who’ve adopted children like Mac, Adam, Owen, Seamus. & Blaine. Paul will raise Hope’s son. Will you have any women raising children of their partners?

That scenario plays a big role in HOW MUCH I CARE, which is one of my new favorites of all my books. I LOVE Austin, Maria and his darling little daughter Everly. If you haven’t read HOW MUCH I CARE yet, make sure to check it out. We will also read about a single dad when we get to Max Abbott’s Butler, Vermont book, and we may see other single dads appear on the scene in future books.

Annette asked: Do you see yourself including the Covid-19 pandemic into any future stories? During stressful, emotional times how do you manage to write/stay focused?
Absolutely not to COVID in the books. We’re getting more than enough of that in real life. No one wants to read about that in their books. I mean if it goes on for five years *gasp* we may have to work it in, but for now, that’s a hard no from me. As for staying focused during these difficult times, just like reading is an escape for you guys, writing is for me. It definitely gets me thinking about things other than the difficult reality of the virus and other challenges we’re facing in the real world. I love to write, so it’s no hardship for me to keep at it during tough times. I feel very lucky that real-world stress doesn’t usually keep me from writing, which I know isn’t the case for all writers.

Marie asked: Any chance that you would consider revisiting Big Mac and Linda’s story  this time as parents of younger children and/or teenagers?
I’m not planning to do that. We may see them in some flashbacks to those days at some point, but I’m not planning to revisit their story in any substantial way, such as a separate book.

Another Marie asked: I am absolutely in love with the Miami series, do you think you will continue it past three books?
I really hope so! I love this new series, too, and have ideas for some additional books that I’d like to write with these characters. We shall see how it goes! I don’t plan anything too far behind the next book in the series, which is
How Much I Love, out March 9.

Martha asked: When will the next Fatal Series be released?
Fatal Fraud is out on October 20! I’m SO EXCITED for this book and can’t wait for you guys to read it. I appreciate your patience while I got my ducks in a row after leaving the publisher of the first 15 books. 

Miriam asked: Will Scotty have a romantic friend in his high school years?
Ohhh, I really hope so—and I know Sam and Nick do, too. Sam would say, “Revenge is a bitch and so am I!” LOL

Judy asked: What inspires you to start writing a new series?
When I have characters and a location that calls to me, gives me lots to work with and the writing is fun, I want to spend more time in that world. That’s how a single book becomes a series. 

Sara asked: Will we get a follow up on the Quantum family?
I think maybe so. I thought a LOT about them while I was on vacation, so we may see more of them in the future. No immediate plans to write more Quantum, but I’m mulling over a few thoughts where they are concerned. And I haven’t forgotten that I owe you two more Quantum bites in the short story I started earlier this year at
Book+Main.

Dianna asked: Will you include the adventures of Sam Sullivan in one of your books?
As much as I love how much you all adore him, I don’t expect to feature him in a book. I think his adventures will remain on FB and Instagram. Incidentally, he has his own Insta account now (or a Samstagram as we’re calling it)
@samsullivan_thedog. Make sure you follow him there to never miss a trick!

Alice asked: Will you add a family dog into the Gansett or Fatal series since we all seem to enjoy the Adventures of Sam Sullivan?
Watch for some dog developments in Fatal Fraud! I’m so glad you are enjoying the Adventures of Sam Sullivan. I am, too. :-)

Marilyn asked: How do you get the characters’ last names?
I keep a running list of names that interest me for a variety of reasons. If I see a name I like, I add it to the list. :-)

Eileen asked: Any more Gansett books?
HELL YES! I’m super excited about Blackout After Dark, which will be a full cast book that shows all the couples and characters we love coping with a days’ long power failure during the dog days of summer. It will introduce you to a number of new characters and update you on all the people you’ve loved from previous books. #GansettFOREVER

Sharon asked: Do you plan on continuing the series with other members of the family? It would be nice to read about the grandparents and their love story too.
I assume you mean the Miami series, and yes, I do hope to continue it beyond three books, but I don’t plan to write separate books for the grandmothers. I think we’ll hear more of their stories as the younger generation is featured in upcoming books.

Barbara asked: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Keep the faith. You'll find your readers. It’ll just take a while. And when you do, it’ll be the most amazing career you ever could’ve hoped to have. 

Finally, as promised, here are some new pics of Sam Sullivan and friends! Funny story—Sam refuses to poop when we stay out on the boat. Last Saturday, I walked 4,000 steps trying get him to poop at the state park near where we keep the boat. Nada! So around 6 pm, I drove him home where he proceeded to poop two seconds after he was paws down in the home yard. One of my friends said that makes him a typical man! I can’t even with this boy! He makes me laugh so hard. He’s just the best companion, and I’m so thankful I’ve gotten to keep my dad’s beloved buddy in my life. Follow him on “Samstagram” @samsullivan_thedog. (My kids are pissed that he has way more followers than they do—LOL!)

That’s the latest and greatest from here. Hope you’re well and staying healthy. Please feel free to respond to this email with any questions you may have about the info included here. Stay safe and healthy.
xoxo
Marie

 

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Marie Force Author/HTJB, Inc.
PO Box 370, Portsmouth, RI 02871
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