Today, It’s my pleasure to have Romantic Suspense author, Diane Burton, on my blog! Diane is one of my wonderful “Author Helping Author” friends and this isn’t the first time she’s been a guest on Under A Paper Moon! Diane is here to tell us about her new release, Numbers Never Lie! Welcome Diane!
Darcy, thanks so much for having me here today. I’m thrilled to share with you and your readers my new release, Numbers Never Lie, a romantic suspense. This book was over fifteen years in the making. I was almost done then had to set it aside because Life intruded. This winter, I delved into it and discovered I wasn’t as far along as I thought. LOL
Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter at the end of this post for a chance to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.
Tell us a bit about your new release?
Numbers Never Lie was over fifteen years in the making. I was almost done then had to set it aside because Life intruded. This winter, I delved into it and discovered I wasn’t as far along as I thought. LOL Even worse, the manuscript was spread across several old floppy disks. Thank goodness, Hubs had an external floppy drive reader. Though it required a lot of work recovering the many files, it was worth the effort. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed Maggie, Drew, and Jack’s story.
Dang girl! Floppy disks – hadn’t heard that word in a while. LOL That is old school. So glad you had the tenacity to stay with it and recover those files!
Before you gasp and think I’ve written a M/F/M managestory, I’d better tell you Maggie and Jack are siblings and Drew is Jack’s best friend. Though stunned by Jack’s accident, too many inconsistences worry Maggie, and she drags a reluctant Drew into her investigation.
What’s a typical working day like for you?
As soon as I get up, I grab a cup of coffee (thank goodness for my Keurig) and open my laptop. I wish I could say I don’t open email or play a game (or 2) but open my work-in-progress first. Some days my eyes don’t function that quickly, I play a game to wake them up. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.) I’ll write until lunch, take a break, then either get back to writing or read/respond to email, read blog posts, and work on promotion.
My day is similar. During my lunch break I watch an episode of Stargate SG 1. Love, love, Richard Dean Anderson! *sigh*
So tell me, if a book were being written about your life, what would the title be?
That’s hard. If you’d ask me to name a song, I’d say Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.” How about My Life is an Open Book? Oops, that’s a song title, too. Seriously, if anyone reads my blogs—and I’ve written a ton of them since 2011, both on my own blog and on others’ plus Facebook—it wouldn’t be hard to piece together my life. In my forty-six-year marriage, with two kids and 5 grandkids, I’ve experienced highs and lows, like most people. Fortunately, the highs way outnumber the lows.
Wow, forty-six years! That’s amazing!
If you could have any meal delivered to your door right now, what would it be?
Ooh. P.F. Chang’s. I’d start with the signature lettuce wraps and dim sum; Oolong Chilean seabass with lobster and shrimp fried rice, and a side of crispy green beans. For dessert, banana spring rolls. Mmm, now I’m hungry. Because all of that is way too much food for me to eat alone, Hubs would have to help me. The best part is my son is a culinary partner with Chang’s, and he would ask me what I was in the mood for and cook that meal accordingly. I am so lucky.
Thanks, Darcy. Those were great questions.
So happy to host you and your new release, Diane!
NUMBERS NEVER LIE
A Romantic Suspense
By Diane Burton
Romantic Suspense
Length: approx. 80,000 words
Available at Amazon http://a.co/gUmO9wZ
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Blurb:
A shocking secret brings danger to Jack Sinclair and his sister Maggie.
As kids, they were the fearless threesome. As adults, Jack’s an accountant; Drew, a lawyer; Maggie, a teacher and camping troop leader. Upon returning from a weekend camping trip, Maggie receives horrifying news. She refuses to believe her brother Jack’s fatal car crash was an accident. If the police won’t investigate, she’ll do it herself. Convincing Drew Campbell to help is her only recourse.
Drew Campbell was too busy to return his best friend’s phone call. Too busy to attend a camping meeting important to his teen daughter. Too busy to stay in touch with Jack. Logic and reason indicate Jack’s accident was just that–an accident caused by fatigue and fog. Prodded by guilt, he’ll help Maggie even if he thinks she’s wrong.
A break-in at Jack’s condo convinces Maggie she’s right. Then her home is searched. What did Jack dothat puts Maggie in danger?
Excerpt
The garage door rose. All by itself.
Maggie Sinclair’s heart shot into high gear as she set down the camping equipment next to her SUV. She wasn’t anywhere near the button next to the door to the house. And the remote was right where it belonged, clipped to the Suburban’s visor. Shehadn’t opened the door.
Someone had keyed in the code.
As the door lifted, a pair of athletic shoes and legs encased in wrinkled khakis came into view. Only one other person knew the code to her garage. The numb-nut scaring her half to death had better be him.
In case it wasn’t, Maggie moved quietly to the rack on the wall where the garden tools hung. As the figure outside bent in half and ducked under the door, Maggie raised the shovel, ala Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera, fully prepared to whack the intruder. When he straightened, his look of surprise almost matched hers.
“Jack Sinclair,” she yelled. “What are you doing sneaking up on me?”
“Whoa!” Her brother recovered fast, right after dropping a plastic case on the dusty garage floor. A CD spilled out. “What are you doing here?”
She lowered the shovel. “Gee, I don’t know. Ya think maybe because I live here?”
Jack picked up the CD and case. “Are you sick? It’s Friday. And only—” He checked his watch. “—one o’clock. Why aren’t you in school?”
About to lambaste him for scaring her, she gave him a long look. Shadows rimmed his eyes, and his mouth had creases she hadn’t noticed the last time she saw him, a couple of weeks ago. Her neatnik brother never looked disheveled, yet there he was in wrinkled slacks and part of his sport shirt hanging out.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You look tired.”
Actually, he looked like his shoulders carried the weight of the world, as their mom used to say. “With Ben out, I had to take over his clients on top of my own. You never said why you’re home in the middle of the afternoon.”
“School is out for the summer.” She returned the shovel to the rack, securing it properly while cringing at the screech. “And you never said why you’re sneaking into my garage?”
He gave her a cocky grin. The creases along his mouth and across his forehead eased. “Can’t I visit my kid sister?”
“When you thought I wasn’t going to be home? Try again, Ace.”
Jack cuffed her around the neck. “Okay, you got me. I wanted to try out a new CD on your system.”
She ducked out from under his arm then hip bumped him. “The truth comes out.”
His combination Christmas and birthday gift to her a couple of years ago was a sophisticated sound system. After he set it up, he’d left detailed—printed, no less—instructions for its use. That was Jack. Always covering the bases. Heaven forbid, he left anything to chance. Even his sister’s entertainment center.
While she pulled the fixings for lunch out of the fridge, Jack went into the living room. When the music didn’t come on right away, she called out, “Forgotten how it works?” She couldn’t resist a smirk. “Why don’t you read the instructions?”
“Nobody likes a smart-ass,” he called back.
Because he seemed so tired, she was surprised by the music. Head-banging rock would not have been her first choice.
“Could you maybe turn it down?” she yelled to be heard over the music. “The neighbor kids will get the wrong idea about their English teacher.”
Jack lowered the volume. When he came out into the kitchen, he grabbed her around the waist and spun her away from the counter. “Maybe those teenage delinquents you insist on trying to educate will think you’re a normal person.”
While he whirled her around the small kitchen, Maggie laughed. “Normal? Instead of the Wicked Witch of the West?” She gave an evil laugh. “‘I’ll get you my pretty.’”
“’And your little dog, too,’” Jack quipped. “You gotta work on that image, Mags.”
“Hey, it works for me.”
Numbers Never Lie is available at Amazon.
About the Author:
Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into 
writing romantic fiction. Besides writing science fiction romance, she writes romantic suspense, and cozy mysteries. Diane and her husband live in West Michigan. They have two children and five grandchildren.
For more info and excerpts from her books, visit Diane’s website: http://www.dianeburton.com
Connect with Diane Burton online
Blog: http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dmburton72
Facebook: http://facebook.com/dianeburtonauthor
Goodreads: Diane Burton Author
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/dmburton72/
Sign up for Diane’s new release alert: http://eepurl.com/bdHtYf
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