Praying for Florida!

Hurricane Harvey Relief

              

Good Afternoon!

I hope you are enjoying a bit of sunshine where you are. The clouds have lifted and the sun is finally shining bright here in Houston, Texas. But it's been one crazy, unimaginable ride this past week.

My heart goes out to ALL those affected by this nasty storm.
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers as we go forward.

Although I've lived in the Houston area for over 20 years now, Victoria,Texas will forever be my home. I've also made many wonderful lifelong memories with family and friends in Rockport, Port Aransas and Corpus Christi over the years. And there were many other beautiful cities that felt the brunt of Harvey's destruction as well. No power. No water. No homes to return to. The media may be focused on the flooding in and around Houston, which has been heartbreaking, but please don't let the other cities and small towns be forgotten. My heart aches at the pictures I've seen of Harvey's destruction. 

Not being able to be there in person to help out is so frustrating and one of the reasons I've joined this great group of writers wanting to help out.

For the next two weeks, we will all be donating our royalties to charities across the affected areas of Texas. I'll be donating all royalties from the sales of my books from September 4th - September 17th to United Way Hurricane Harvey Disaster Relief.
( https://www.unitedwayvictoria.org/civi…/contribute/transact… )

Please click the link below to find out more about the participating authors and charities. Find a new author, read a great book, and help those who've lost so much due to this devastating catastrophe! Gifting the books to others works too. Thank you!

https://www.carriepulkinen.com/authorshelpinghouston/
Although only Betrayals of the Heart is listed on the Authors Helping Houston page, I will be donating the royalties from all my books during this time. Click link below to find my books and links to the different retailers. 

www.melissaohnoutka.com

Wishing you all the Best!

July Romantic Suspense Contest and Giveaway!

Today, I have a fun surprise I’d like to share with you.

I’ve teamed up with 20 romantic suspense authors to give away a huge collection of novels to 2 lucky winners, alongside a number of bookstore gift cards, PLUS a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet to the Grand Prize winner! 

You can win my novel BETRAYALS OF THE HEART, plus books from authors like AVERY FLYNN,  LINDZEE ARMSTRONG and AUTUMN JORDON.

Enter the giveaway by clicking here: bit.ly/2tfsN70

Good luck, and enjoy! ;)

Cover Makovers!

New year, new adventures on the writing journey. And it's only April! 

Love these new cover redos now available in ebook format for 2017! :)

Same suspenseful stories, just with a fresh new look.

All are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc.

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Faithful Deceptions

Money dictates the rules of this game and the victim could be anybody— regardless of sex, age, or race.
  When high-end antiques dealer, Hailey Devlin, discovers her business partner's boyfriend has bankrupted their company, she sets out to expose the thief. Unknown to Hailey, her target is involved in a brutal trafficking ring where human lives are sold off to the highest bidder and she fits the next customer's order perfectly. She awakens to a world she can't remember. An alluring man claims to be her husband-a man who seems both to want and reject her. Is this amnesia or something much more sinister?

Target of Betrayal

Kathleen Landon thought her life would finally get back to normal after the bizarre death of her husband. But a "chance" meeting with an old boyfriend throws her and her family on a dangerous and emotional journey full of secrets and betrayal. Her husband's death wasn't an accident, but an attempt to cover up a horrendous crime spree being operated by a traitor inside the FBI. Now she and her children are running from a cold-blooded killer. Can she trust the U.S. Marshal sworn to protect them. Or is he using her as bait to capture her husband's killer?

Betrayals of the Heart

Makayla thought she'd fallen in love with the man of her dreams. But after the honeymoon, a horrifying reality sets in. She is a prisoner, a slave, a pawn for a malicious man’s games. When her precious son is born, the need to escape intensifies. Little does she know that the man who helps her escape is working undercover with orders from the FBI to bring her in—a sure method to end not only her life, but her young son’s as well. Can she survive the lies and betrayals?

Goals - Why Make Them?

So, I was going though old post on Facebook and found this one from 2012.

Talk about surprise the heck out of me. Looks like I've been slacking off for a few years now. LOL Now of course two of the books were already written and only had to be edited before publishing. But I did write a short story as well as a full length novel and 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo in that same year. Sheessh...

Makes me wonder where all my time is going these days. But it also makes me want to get my bootie in gear and be more productive. So even though I might night achieve all the goals I set out to do, looking back and seeing what I did accomplish is a great motivator. So much so here's a brief summary of what I did get done for 2016. :)

** Submitted and received a contract with Entangled publishing for Sinful Secrets. (YEAH!) Finished writing the first draft of Wicked Games in June, which now sits awaiting edits. Attended the RWA National conference in San Diego. Survived the many rounds of edits on Sinful Secrets over the summer. Went on a wonderful writing retreat with three awesome writers. Wrote 50,000 words during NaNoWrio on Sam's story, the next one I'll be presenting to Entangled. Sinful Secrets was released November 16, 2016 and I learned all kinds of new promotional ideas. And then finished off the year going through some really tough health issues with hubby, but all is well now.

Looks like I did get quite a bit of writing done. Just need to tackle those pesky edits and I'll be in business again. Sigh.... Wish I knew how to like this stage more.

What about you? How did your 2016 play out?

Entangled Publishing

Wishing you all a happy and blessed weekend!

      

Giveaway Alert!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Celebrate your love of Romantic Suspense!

bit.ly/rom-suspense-feb-13

Have you read my novel BETRAYALS OF THE HEART?

For a limited time, you can enter to win my book and 40 of these Fantastic ROMANTIC SUSPENSE novels from an amazing collection of authors, PLUS a BRAND NEW KINDLE FIRE!!

...

Enter the contest by clicking here: bit.ly/rom-suspense-feb-13

Good Luck!

The Art of Craft - Characters

So it's a new year. A time to try new things. And I'm going to hit while the iron is hot! LOL You know, while I'm in the mood to change and be adventurous.

As a writer on a mission to fill those blank pages with words, I find the learning curve never stops. There will always be a better way to say something, a new and creative way to describe a scene, or action and still be true to your unique voice. This is another part of the journey I like. Watching my words turn from mediocre to gut wrenching, emotional charged prose warms my little heart. Writing is, after all, feeling on a deeper level, right?

I'm so excited! A few of my new craft books I ordered arrived today. Can't wait to get started!

First up:

Writing the intimate Character - Create Unique, Compelling Characters through the Mastery of Point of View.

Yes, please!! :)

Let me devour the knowledge within these pages and I'll get back to you!

Have a Happy Week Ya'll!

Wait! I'm not Ready!

2017 has arrived!

How did this happen? I just finished Nanowrimo, like yesterday. Seriously. I need a huge kick in the pants to jump start this year that has taken off without me. So not fair.

Wishing everyone a Wonderful New Year filled with love, laughter and many blessings!!

And in case you've been living under a rock like me, in hopes it might somehow slow down time, here's another look at my latest release from Entangled Publishing.

All Joanna McNamee wants is to make her event planning business a success, but someone keeps sabotaging her events. The last thing she expects is to see Ryker Kane, the man she’s been crushing on since college, show back up in her life. Talk about awkward. She decides acting as if they’ve never met is the best option. But when a man tries to kidnap her in order to get his hands on her father’s secret formula, she must put the past behind her and trust Ryker. Or lose everything.

Click here to read the first chapter and order your copy: Entangled Publishing - Sinful Secrets

Or visit www.melissaohnoutka.com to find out more about my other books and what's in the works.  If you've already snatched up a copy and enjoyed it, please leave a review. Not only do I love hearing from my readers, but you'll be helping me out with marketing as well. 

Thank you all so much!