It has been a very long time since I’ve updated my blog. I would apologize except that I’m pretty sure you’d rather have me working on Striking Distance (I-Team 6) than blog posts. Just a guess, but I’m pretty sure I’m right about that!

The good news is that Striking Distance is moving along, slowly but surely, and I’m doing all I can to meet my May 31 deadline so that you’ll have the book by November.

I’ve also been busy shopping for a gown to wear to the 2013 RITA Awards, where Defiant (MacKinnon’s Rangers 3) is a finalist. I’ve never had any fashion sense or skill with this sort of thing, so I expect I’ll end up looking like Björk or something.

In the meantime, Nate and Megan have made it onto audiobook.  Their novella, Skin Deep, is now available on Audible.com, on iTunes and on Tantor Audio’s website.

I’ve had time to listen to only about half of it so far, and having Kaleo Griffith bringing these characters to life, some for the first time, some for the fourth or fifth time, is such a delight! Those of you who suffer from OKD — that’d Obsessive Kaleo Disorder — will get a fix here that will hopefully hold you over until November. I especially love his portrayal of old-time Colorado rancher Jack West, the former Army Ranger who happens to be Nate’s father. As Benjy joked as we listened in the car, “And now for the real romance of this story — the relationship between Jack and Emily.”


Of course, Jack is 63 and Emily is 4, but theirs is a love story of a different kind.

The audiobook includes the I-Team short, “Marc and Julian Make a Beer Run,” which I wrote in response to a joke that someone made on the I-Team Facebook group page. “I’d read anything you wrote about the I-Team heroes, even if it was just Marc and Julian making a beer run.’

Her words percolated in my imagination, and the result is hopefully something you will enjoy, written as a thank you to the I-Team Facebook group members, one of whom created the little e-card you see above here. Fun!



In other audiobook news, I do know for certain now that the MacKinnon’s Rangers series will begin its release in July with Surrender coming out on July 15 and Untamed and Defiant slated for release in August.

To celebrate the release of Skin Deep and the crazy “Beer Run,” I’m giving away one signed copy of the full CD set to a lucky winner. To enter, just post below and tell me what you love most about the I-Team series. And remember to leave your contact information so that I can reach you if you win! If you want to tweet about the audiobook or share your love of the I-Team on Facebook or Twitter, I’d be grateful, but it's not necessary.

Now back to Javier and Laura. Things are heating up for those two...

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks for audiobook news her at Casa Clare.

As I announced on Facebook and mentioned here, Tantor Audio bought the rights to Skin Deep and “Marc and Julian Make a Beer Run.” The stories, which Kaleo Griffith has already finished recording, will be available on April 29 — just a few weeks away!

The email in my inbox from Kaleo telling me that he’d had fun bringing the characters to life hadn’t yet cooled when I heard from my editor at Penguin that Tantor had purchased the audiobook rights for the MacKinnon’s Rangers series — Surrender, Untamed and Defiant.

I’m not sure what the time frame is for voicing the series and release it, but Tantor moves quickly, so I don’t thing we’re in for an overly long wait.

Of course, readers and listeners began asking immediately whether Kaleo would be brought onboard to voice Iain, Morgan, Connor, Lord William and the Rangers. I don’t have the answer to that question yet. I do know, however, that Kaleo did voice a book that was done entirely in Scottish brogue, so clearly he has the accent down.

I guess we’ll wait with baited breath to see. As one listener said, “Kaleo gives great aural.” And, indeed, he does!

In the meantime, Skin Deep is already available for pre-order on Audible.com, Amazon, and soon iTunes, too, as well as Tantor Audio’s own website.

With the release of the MacKinnon’s Rangers series in audiobook, that leaves only one I-Team novella and three historicals that aren’t yet in audiobook, and I know Tantor has expressed some interest in the I-Team novella. Eventually perhaps those of you who prefer to listen to books will have everything I’ve written at your auditory beck and call.

I’m still busy working on Striking Distance. I’m halfway done with the story. The past couple of weeks derailed me a bit, but I’m doing all I can to get back on track this week. When I have a lot of interruptions — such as hearing that one of my books is a RITA finalist or writing and posting a long piece about sexual assault on Facebook, like I did last week (which got 23,000+ reads on my fan page alone) — it tends to break the thread of the story. I end up having to read from the beginning to get my mind back in the right groove again.

Have a great week, everyone!

And stay tuned for big news about a fan get-together in Atlanta in on July 19-20! Guess who’s joining me there to sign books and audiobooks? If you guess Kaleo, you’re right.