Thursday, May 30, 2013

Book Four of The Clan MacDougall Series

Good morning beautiful readers!
McKenna's Honor is coming along quite nicely. July will be here before you know it. Amazon should have a pre-order link up and running for us on or around June 20th. Our target release date is July 26, 2013. I will keep you posted if anything changes.

I am thoroughly enjoying this book. While it will have some romance in it, McKenna's Honor is going to be just a wee bit different. There will be far more mystery and intrigue. I am bringing back many of our favorite characters who I think you will be glad to see. ;o)

McKenna's Honor

Prologue

An old adage declares that there is no honor among thieves. The same can be said of traitors. Traitors often hide in the open, in our full plane of vision. The truth is there, if we choose to see it, if we are determined to see things for what they are and not what we wish them to be.
In reality, traitors are nothing more than pretenders. Actors in a play in which only they know who is who and what is what. Master manipulators.
 And people tend to see only what they wish to see.
When a traitor performs, openly defending the weak, speaking only in the highest regard toward his king and country, and displaying an unequaled façade of honor, well, who among us would question his fealty? The traitor shows us only what he wishes us to see and only what we wish to believe.
All the while the traitor silently laughs at the folly he has created, taking great care in the absurdity of the entire situation.
And if he is extremely careful the world will never know who or what he truly is. 
However, as is often the case with thieves, traitors, and ne’er do wells, sometimes fate steps in at the most unexpected of times. It rips away the heavy curtain of subterfuge and duplicity, to openly display to the world not what it wishes to see, but what it in fact must see.
Such inaugurations to the truth are often painful and traumatic, leaving the newly inaugurated feeling stunned, stupefied, and bitter. For some, the only means of survival is outright denial. They shun the truth. Curse it. Preferring instead, to live in denial. Mayhap because they love the traitor so much, it is easy to justify the aforementioned traitor’s behavior. Or, they may not wish to believe they could have been so easily duped.
But as in all good plays, there are subtle twists and turns. Some are quite obvious, others, not so much. Mayhap the truth isn’t always what it seems. Mayhap there is far more to it than anyone realizes.
What then, motivates a man? A man like Angus McKenna?
Angus McKenna has spent his life defending the defenseless, offering hope to the hopeless, lifting up the weak. This is how the world see’s him: Honorable. Honest. Steadfast. A leader of men. A man loyal, to king and country. A man above reproach. That is the man his people see, the man other leaders see, the man the world sees.
Since the day he took his oath as chief of the Clan MacDougall and made the promise to uphold and protect his clan above all other things, Angus McKenna has always put his family and his clan first. Each decision he has made since that fateful day in 1331 has been made with only one thought in mind: how will this decision affect my family and my clan?
Nothing else mattered but the safety and well being of his people. Not his own comfort, his own desires, or his own needs could be taken into consideration when making decisions that would directly affect his people.
What then, could have made Angus McKenna don a red and black plaid and turn against his king? His country? How could a man like Angus McKenna do such a thing? What could be of such a value that he would plot to murder his king and to forge a pact with the English? A pact that would cause the fall of his country and put it squarely into the hands of the very people he has spent his entire life fighting against.
Gold?
Silver?
Power?
Something more?
Through time and experience, we learn that things are not always as they appear.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

What Is A Street Team?


  
A street team is a group of readers who work to help spread the word about a particular author’s book(s). This can be done by sharing posts and links at Facebook, Tweeting, and emailing friends about the author’s books. They share book links, blog posts, and their own reviews.


Suzan's Highland Lassies
Another important aspect is to help get the author’s books into real book and mortar bookstores and libraries. These are what I refer to as 'boots on the ground' members. Kind of like Special Forces, but with books and bookmarks and pretty things! ;o) We’re a lot nicer too!

I happen to think I have the most beautiful, sweetest, funniest, and most awesome street team. My team call themselves Suzan's Highland Lassies, and they take being a street team member very seriously. I love their excitement and passion and determination. These are fun women to hang out with, to work with, and to know. I love them all dearly.

If you would be interested in joining my street team, just send me an email. Our goal is to have members in all 50 states and around the world. I have members in the US, Canada, Scotland, and the Netherlands. 

I would love to have more team members!

Hugs,
Suzan


Monday, May 20, 2013

The Books...


Hello! One of my favorite questions from readers is: How many books will be in this series?

I've decided to answer that by dedicating a page here at my website regarding that topic. ;o) 

You can find that new page here:

The Seven Clans

Hugs,
Suzan

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Cover Reveal for McKenna's Honor!

Hello lovely readers!

I decided to reveal the cover to McKenna's Honor today, along with the new prologue.

Our target release date is July 26, 2013. Pre-order link should be live at Amazon around June 20th. ;o)

Hugs,
Suzan


Prologue
An old adage declares that there is no honor among thieves. The same can be said of traitors. Traitors often hide in the open, in our full plane of vision. The truth is there, if we choose to see it, if we are determined to see things for what they are and not what we wish them to be.
In reality, traitors are nothing more than pretenders. Actors in a play in which only they know who is who and what is what. Master manipulators.
 And people tend to see only what they wish to see.
When a traitor performs, openly defending the weak, speaking only in the highest regard toward his king and country, and displaying an unequaled façade of honor, well, who among us would question his fealty? The traitor shows us only what he wishes us to see and only what we wish to believe.
All the while the traitor silently laughs at the folly he has created, taking great care in the absurdity of the entire situation.
And if he is extremely careful the world will never know who or what he truly is. 
However, as is often the case with thieves, traitors, and ne’er do wells, sometimes fate steps in at the most unexpected of times. It rips away the heavy curtain of subterfuge and duplicity, to openly display to the world not what it wishes to see, but what it in fact must see.
Such inaugurations to the truth are often painful and traumatic, leaving the newly inaugurated feeling stunned, stupefied, and bitter. For some, the only means of survival is outright denial. They shun the truth. Curse it. Preferring instead, to live in denial. Mayhap because they love the traitor so much, it is easy to justify the aforementioned traitor’s behavior. Or, they may not wish to believe they could have been so easily duped.
But as in all good plays, there are subtle twists and turns. Some are quite obvious, others, not so much. Mayhap the truth isn’t always what it seems. Mayhap there is far more to it than anyone realizes.
What then, motivates a man? A man like Angus McKenna?
Angus McKenna has spent his life defending the defenseless, offering hope to the hopeless, lifting up the weak. This is how the world see’s him: Honorable. Honest. Steadfast. A leader of men. A man loyal, to king and country. A man above reproach. That is the man his people see, the man other leaders see, the man the world sees.
Since the day he took his oath as chief of the Clan MacDougall and made the promise to uphold and protect his clan above all other things, Angus McKenna has always put his family and his clan first. Each decision he has made since that fateful day in 1331 has been made with only one thought in mind: how will this decision affect my family and my clan?
Nothing else mattered but the safety and well being of his people. Not his own comfort, his own desires, or his own needs could be taken into consideration when making decisions that would directly affect his people.
What then, could have made Angus McKenna don a red and black plaid and turn against his king? His country? How could a man like Angus McKenna do such a thing? What could be of such a value that he would plot to murder his king and to forge a pact with the English? A pact that would cause the fall of his country and put it squarely into the hands of the very people he has spent his entire life fighting against.
Gold?
Silver?
Power?
Something more?
Through time and experience, we learn that things are not always as they appear.

Monday, May 13, 2013

McKenna's Honor

I thought I'd share a bit of the prologue with you today!
Hugs,
Suzan


McKenna’s Honor
Prologue
What motivates a man? A man like Angus McKenna?
Angus McKenna has spent his life defending the defenseless, offering hope to the hopeless, lifting up the weak. This is how the world see’s him: Honorable. Honest. Steadfast. A leader of men. A man loyal, to king and country. A man above reproach. That is the man his people see, the man other leaders see, the man the world sees.

Since the day he took his oath as chief of the Clan MacDougall and made the promise to uphold and protect his clan above all other things, Angus McKenna has always put his family and his clan first. Each decision he has made since that fateful day in 1331 has been made with only one thought in mind: how will this decision affect my family and my clan?

Nothing else mattered but the safety and well being of his people. Not his own comfort, his own desires, or his own needs could be taken into consideration when making decisions that would directly affect his people.

What then, could have made Angus McKenna don a red and black plaid and turn against his king? His country? How could a man like Angus McKenna do such a thing? What could be of such a value that he would plot to murder his king and to forge a pact with the English? A pact that would cause the fall of his country and put it squarely into the hands of the very people he has spent his entire life fighting against.
Gold?
Silver?
Power?
Something more?
Through time and experience, we learn that things are not always as they appear.


McKenna's Honor will be released in July 2013. ;o) Pre-Order link coming soon!

Hackers and Other Ne'er Do Wells

Many of you are already aware of the time I invested in my beautiful new website. It was a long road, but one I felt was well worth it.  

After my book signing on Saturday, I came home happy, excited, and thrilled with how well the day went, only to learn that someone hacked my beautiful new site and left a malware virus behind. How anyone finds any humor in this, I do not know. It was a very frustrating experience, but one from which I am learning a great deal more about hackers than I ever wanted to. 

However, if this is the worst thing that happens to me this year, then I'd say I had a mighty fine year! ;o)

With that said, I've returned home, to Blogspot. If my web hosting company can't undo what the hackers did, then this most likely will remain a permanent move. 

I am so very sorry for the inconvenience these idiots have caused all of you. These kinds of things don't just frustrate the owner of the website, they frustrate the followers of the said site owner. It isn't fair to all of you that we have to hop back and forth with a new site every other month. 

Again, please accept my most heartfelt apologies. Hopefully, we'll get this issue sorted out very soon. ;o)

I thank you all for your patience and your support. 

Sincerely,

Suzan Tisdale

Sunday, May 12, 2013

For My Mom


I want to extend a very special thank you to my mom, Arline Munson. Without her, I would not be the awesome mom that I am, because I learned how to be that from her. I also learned how to be creative, how to see things that others might not see, how to love unconditionally, and how to pinch with my toes. 

Erma Bombeck once said there are two kinds of mothers.

There is the kind of mom who can't have a breath mint at two a.m. without waking her kids up to share it with. My mom is that kind of mom. I can remember her waking us up in the middle of the night and giving us cheese and crackers or toast. "I'm hungry, so eat." She always made sure we had everything we needed and a few things that might not be necessities in life, but were lots of fun! 

Then there is the kind of mother who will eat an entire grocery sack full of Halloween candy. When her kids come home from school and find her passed out on the sofa in a sugar induced coma, she will look them straight in the eye and say, "The mice ate your candy. I tried to save it, but was too late." I tend to be more of that kind of mom! (Only when it comes to chocolate!)

My mother is one of the most talented women that I know. She can take two potatoes and an onion and feed 20 people. I get my artistic talents from her as well as my love for reading. I also get my sarcastic nature from her. I also get my backbone, perseverance, and love of life from her. She taught me to enjoy every moment of every day, even if it isn't filled with joy. Mom taught me that it is okay to cry when you feel like crying. I remember the Folgers commercial where the boy comes home from college. We cried like babies!  

I also get my sense of adventure from her. There were a few times when we decided on the spur of the moment to take a road trip. Now, that road trip could have been as short as going only a few miles, finding a stream and fishing with cane poles. Or, we could have ended up in Missouri, or Oklahoma, or Michigan. You just never knew where the wind would take us.

I think most of all, what I learned from my mom, was how to love someone. Whether it was your kids, your family, or your friends. You love unconditionally, with unparalleled ferocity. Your kids are perfect, even when they're behaving imperfectly. 

So thank you, mamma. For all you have ever done for me and my kids. Thank you for letting me grocery shop in your pantry when I didn't have money for groceries. Thank you for spoiling my children and now my grandchildren. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being such a beautiful role-model for me. 

I love you mom!

Suzie

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Suzan's Highland Lassies!

If you would like more information on becoming a member of my awesome street team, Suzan's Highland Lassies, please email me at: suzan@suzantisdale.com


Or find me at my author page at Facebook.

My goal is to have team members in all fifty states and around the world!

Hugs,
Suzan

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Our New Website!

Hello lovely readers!

After many hours of research, much banging my head against my desk, and battles with technical stuff, we finally have a new website! ;o) I love the fact that everything is in one place, books, blog, website. I also like to think that it is rather pretty!


I say this is 'our' new website, because I know I wouldn't be able to do this without your help, support, and kindness.

Over the course of the next week or two, I will be transferring some of my favorite posts here over to my new site. When I am done, I will shut this blog down. I know it is a pain in the buttocks for you.

At the new website, http://www.suzantisdale.com, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter, join in the conversation at the blog, contact me using the nifty form, and stay in touch by subscribing to updates. Subscribing to updates and signing up for newsletter are two different things. Those links can be found on the home page. ;o)

This past year has been an exciting one! And I couldn't have done it without all of you! Stay tuned for some fun & important updates. I'll have an important announcement in a few days. I'll post that at the site and my blog. ;o)

Again, I sent my most heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for helping make my dreams come true. You're all just the best and I love you!

With gratitude,
Suzan