The Book That Almost Wasn't: Fatal Deception's Bumpy Road to Publication

Fatal Deception, book 5, in the Fatal Series hit the e-book shelves today after a long and winding road to publication. In the midst of my 23rd book, something happened that had never happened to me before. I dropped my laptop and FRIED my hard drive, taking TEN chapters of Fatal Deception with it. If you'd asked me when the last time I'd backed up was, I would've said a week, maybe two. It was more like a month. Painful lesson learned. I was also working on one of my Gansett Island books when the fry-o-lation occurred. I very easily recreated the chunk I was missing in that book. Not so easily done in Fatal Deception.

I always say the Fatal Series books are my most complicated. Because they are so bendy and twisty, there was NO WAY I could easily recreate 10 chapters. My brain was resistant to even THINKING about it. Thus, I had to bring in the experts. To make a very long and UGLY story short, it took TEN WEEKS and THREE THOUSAND dollars to recover my ten chapters. Yep, you read that right. Disk Doctor in California got back the missing chapters, but it wasn't cheap. Since my choice was either to abandon the book or pay the money, I paid. During the ten weeks in the abyss, I kept plugging forward with Fatal Deception from where I'd left off, not knowing if the missing chapters would ever be recovered. When I got back the missing chapters, I pasted the whole thing back together and finished it up--in time for the deadline. Minor miracle! I don't recommend writing a book under these conditions. I now have extremely sophisticated backup systems that I rely upon to keep this from ever happening again.

Fatal Deception, the book that almost wasn't, is out TODAY! Here's what you can expect in this latest installment—my favorite yet in this series. Jealous Nick, Kinky Nick, Sam more obnoxious than ever! Fun, fun, FUN!

The wife of the White House deputy chief of staff has been beaten to death, and their one-year-old daughter is missing. D.C. Police Lieutenant Sam Holland is in charge of the murder investigation, but she's forced to collaborate with Special Victims Unit detectives as well as thorn-in-her-side FBI Special Agent Avery Hill. Then, a cold case of her father's resurrects old hurts—a distraction Sam cannot afford.

As Sam's investigation heats up, so does Nick's political career—and the heat carries over to their bedroom. Will Sam put the pieces together in time to catch a killer and find the baby, or will ambition, greed and lies prove fatal?

Get it now at Kindle • Nook • iBooks • Kobo • Carina Press

Read an excerpt.

Join the Fatal Deception Readers Group on Facebook when you're done with the book to dish about the story with other fans of the series.

And don't forget: Book 1, Fatal Affair, is FREE this month everywhere ebooks are sold! 

Hope you enjoy the latest installment in Sam & Nick's ongoing love affair!