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Chasing the Painted Skies By Ryan Jo Summers

12/18/2015

Please welcome Ryan Jo Summers to my website and I'm
delighted to promote her new release
Chasing the Painted Skies.

Blurb:

Raven Koynes is a woman in hiding. Years ago she escaped to remote Gull Island Light Station, nestled far away in Lake Superior. She has carved out a life of peace and solitude for herself. Until famed nature photographer Sebastian Knight arrives--in the height of a nor'easter storm--to document the beauty of Gull Island. Unsavory treasure hunters also blow in with the storm, determined to find missing cargo from a sunken ship. And they are positive Raven knows where it's stashed. A power outage from the storm traps everyone at her keeper's cottage, fellow prisoners of the storm.

Between her attraction to handsome Sebastian and the unwelcome advances and threats of the hunters, Raven is pushed to her limit. Help arrives in the form of a stray German Shepherd Dog, who takes an immediate protective interest in Raven. He becomes her constant shadow and listening ear as she sorts out her growing--and conflicting--feelings for Sebastian.

Meanwhile, Sebastian came to the island looking for treasure as well, in the form of photographs. While he isn't so sure about missing cargo, he only needs to look at Raven Koynes to know he's found his own valuable treasure. One he hopes he can hang on to if she learns about his mysterious secret.

Now that Madeline the resident ghost has found out, it's probably just a matter of time until Raven does too. And with the storm and power outage, no one is going anywhere any time soon.

Excerpt:

Did that include Sebastian? True, he had yet to take the photographs he came for. So was he willing to go without them? It didn’t sound like he had much choice. And did she really want him to go at all? Despite her talk with him earlier about liking to be alone on the island, his presence had awoken something inside her that dared to say otherwise. Something that dared her to deny its whispered suggestions that she might really be falling for him. She giggled. Too late, she’d already fallen for him and his bewitching green eyes and crooked smile and tender touch. That internal voice dared her to say she didn’t want him to stay, but as more than as a guest. Her heart leapt and beat fast. She wanted him to stay as her man.
“There she is! Up there!” Arthur’s angry bellow reached her.
Dropping the book, she scanned the rocky ground. Standing below, waving a short handled pick ax at her, Arthur beat his fist in the air. Dudley and Helen stood nearby, also holding out shovels. Cold fear crawled up her spine at the sight and a sweat broke out on her forehead. Pulse racing, she realized she was trapped at the top with no way down but through them.
“She’s gonna show us that treasure and right now! Let’s go get her!” Arthur barked, waving his ax like a club. “I want that black-haired witch!”
Oh Lord, where was Sebastian? Standing up, she considered her options. There was no lock on the light tower. She could never run fast enough to outdistance them all. Trapped like a rat, she could only wait. Could she maybe push them over the railing? Would she have the guts to? Shove another human over to their death? Her stomach flipped.
Beside her Madeline materialized, drawing her attention to the house. Trembling, Raven gripped the rail and looked over the edge. Could a ghost scare them away?
“Go after them, Madeline,” she stuttered. “You might be the only thing they fear.” Maybe.
Madeline raised an arm to point to the house once more, slowly fading.
Barking reached her ears as Salzburg broke from the trees at the corner of the house, racing for the trio, growling fiercely.
Her hand pressed to her mouth in horror, Raven watched as Salzburg

leapt through the air, aiming for Arthur. Connecting with his arm, he

swung his weight, dragging the man’s arm, pulling yells of pain from him.

Finally Arthur shook the dog off and Salzburg went rolling across the

ground.

Author Bio:

Ryan Jo Summers is a North Carolina author who specializes in writing romances with a twist. Love stories blended with inspirational, paranormal, suspense or time travel--or several at once. She also writes non-fiction for regional periodicals. Ryan's dad is a songwriter and his aunt wrote poetry so she claims she came by her writing skill honestly. Apparently it's in the genes.
Her hobbies include bird-watching, houseplants, poetry and yard work. She loves to gather with friends, hike in the forest with her dog, paint ceramics and canvas and work on wiggly word find puzzles. She lives in a 1920 cottage with a menagerie of pets. Living in the mountains, she dreams of the shore and frequently uses the water as scenes for her stories.
More about Ryan Jo can be discovered at her website, Home or her blog http://summersrye.wordpress.com

Ryan Jo Summers
WEBSITE: www.ryanjosummers.com
BLOG: http:summersrye.wordpress.com
FB: www.facebook.com/pages/Ryan-Jo-Summers-author-page/312875648810797
      Proud author with Soul Mate Publishing & Black Lyon Publishing

Buy Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Painted-Skies-Ryan-Summers-ebook/dp/B0189B2PB8/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

6 Comments

The Wedding brought to you from Social Media

12/3/2015

5 Comments

The conversation started with, " Hey how are you enjoying the summer?"
Continuing with "Maybe we should meet. We seem to have a lot in common." This conversation was from a lonely American having just transferred to Toronto Canada for a job opportunity. One night with the help from a glass of wine or beer he surfed the internet and settled on a dating site called Ok Cupid.
This was where he spotted my daughter's profile.

A proposal happened a year or two later with immediate wedding plans. (I did not question why)
A wedding in Toronto, another one in Reno.

Alas, a rush for a venue and a quick wedding began. My daughter had taken my husband and I to a restaurant to look for venues for the wedding. Sitting down for dinner and ordering at one venue site, my daughter informed us that after the wedding they were moving to San Francisco where her fiancé was just offered a job. He was absent at the dinner afraid or worried it would not go well. Needless to say both my daughter and I cried at the dinner. And that was when I realized my apron strings had never been severed. When we cried the waiter was concerned seeing two women crying until we told him the situation. He was relieved that it was nothing serious but understood my dilemma which made me cry even more. "You can go and visit her!" The waiter said excitedly. That sentiment would continue to haunt me.
   For the next little while I was gripped with panic and anxiety as the weeks went by to plan the wedding. Actually they planned the wedding as they tasted the food, ordered the meals, decorations, arranged the flowers not to mention the wedding dress and decided on George Restaurant on Queen Street as my husband and I paid.
   But nothing ever goes smoothly as we age. My mother had health issues almost every week as we took her to the doctor for unplanned appointments. My husband's mother wasn't doing well either and I did not know which way to turn. "Don't you dare die on us before the wedding," I'd tell my mother. Okay I also became mean. Then with all the stress something wonderful happened—I'd lost weight. It happened when I tried on an old one piece black bathing suit I had for years that I could never wear because it was too small. As I was about to throw it away I tried it on and it fit! Imagine losing weight without even trying.
But my mother still wasn't feeling well and then I got that early morning call from my sister saying mum was in the hospital with chest pains. Meanwhile my husband was busy with his mother who had just fallen and could no longer stay where she resided the last ten years. She needed a nursing home immediately. Would the wedding ever take place?
   Somehow though everything falls into place. Even though my mother was put in a hospital ward with two men, the next day they took my ninety three old mother into the operating room to fix a blocked artery. My mother's only request was to make sure she could dance at her granddaughter's wedding. The wonderful doctors had put it on her chart. Two days later she was able to walk out of the hospital and go on as before excluding marathons. Then they found a nursing home for my mother-in-law, a five minute drive from our house. I was relieved and had some chocolate along with trying on my black bathing suit that still fit. Life at the moment was wonderful.
But when my daughter and I went for the fitting of the wedding dress; it was slightly off. The style had been taken away by being too loose. I failed by not telling her this when she was unsure. I failed as a mother. It was when my other daughter who saw the picture of the dress on the cell phone that was being altered, demanded it had to be fixed and that it was not right. This was also confirmed by my sister. My daughter made the call to the dressmaker the next day.
"So I will fix it," the dressmaker said calmly. " Next week you can wait while I do it."—Less than a week before the wedding. My anxiety started again thinking about the wedding dress and how I had failed my daughter. I should have been the one to say the dress was not right—I was the mother.
My mother was not feeling well again and I took her to the doctor. Less than a week before the wedding. Between the wedding dress and my mother, I was getting plenty of anxiety attacks. Wasn't preparing for a wedding supposed to be fun? That night I tried on my black bathing suit which still fit. At least something was going right.
However things weren't going that great for my future son-in-law. His best man couldn't find his passport the morning he was supposed to fly to Toronto with his fiancée. He had to miss the flight and drive to San Francisco from Reno to issue a new passport A.S.A.P. He somehow made his direct evening flight from San Francisco to Toronto. But a woman got sick on the plane and they made an emergency landing at Chicago airport in the early morning hours. (He could have gone to Australia in that amount of time.) Needless to say he landed safely in Toronto around four in the morning and at five he made it to the hotel.
  Just when we thought everything was going smoothly, my future son-in-law's five year nephew got sick and had to miss the ceremony dinner for the immediate family and best friend on a Thursday night. That meant that one of the parents would have to stay home after flying here with the kids and miss the wedding vows. But again everything fell into place and a wonderful babysitter was found and the parents could attend the dinner. And the children were able to attend the wedding party on Saturday where there was dinner and dancing and speeches with family and friends.
But most importantly the kids were able to visit Niagara Falls and experience Canadian maple fudge.
The wedding was a hit, the venue superb, the wedding dress just gorgeous, the food amazing and the dancing great!
And my mother made it to the wedding.

So perhaps stay tuned for the wedding party adventure in Reno. Find out if my anxiety disappeared?
Did our luggage with the wedding dress in it arrive in Reno on time for the party?
Did the best man ever find his passport?
Did anyone get sick in Reno?
Did I fit into my black bathing suit after Reno and San Francisco?

And find out who won the maple fudge contest for the best maple flavor between Virginia City USA and Niagara on The Lake, Canada.

And to all writers: Who was the author my daughters were listening to on their podcast on the flight to Reno, the author with only a few sales under her belt, that saw a photo in a magazine of Brittany Spears carrying her book . . . ?
(No, it wasn't me)

5 Comments

Author

Residing in Toronto, ON. I love to write, travel with my husband, worry about my kids, and befriend the dogs in my neighborhood. I have a passion for all things romance and fiction - and I am excited for my new book release. Thank you for stopping by my blog!

Chasing the Painted Skies By Ryan Jo Summers

The Wedding brought to you from Social Media

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