1. Where do I start?
Which series to read first? There's no right answer; it depends on what you like. Start with the READING ORDER page.
2. Must I read a series in order?
Nope! There are no cliffhangers between my titles. Every book can be read on its own. For those who like watching characters grow and change from book to book, then yes, reading each series in order is more fun.
There is one "super group" of series all of which have a shared "world." Characters occasionally move from one series to the next. Like my books, each series may be read stand-alone. However, there are wonderful little connections between them. The READING ORDER page will give the basic layout of The Emily Beale Universe. For the superfans, I've created a definitive reading order.
3. What formats are available?
Every book is released in eBook and print. Selected titles are also released in audio and large print. Print and audio are typically not available for preorder, but will be purchaseable on release day. We are making an effort to make all titles available in audio (so keep an eye on the newsletter for new releases).
Every title is available "wide." This means that, in addition to being available directly from this website, they're also available at: Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Waterstones, and hundreds (literally) of others.
4. Tell me more about "Read by Author" audio?
I'm a HUGE fan of audiobooks read by the author. Why? Professional narrators can do a wonderful job of bringing characters to life with myriad voices and advanced skills.
But an author, with some training and a bit of practice, will bring something to the reading that I find far more important than a merely great read. The author will naturally read the voices and the sentence rhythms as they were put on the page because the author heard those words in their head long before they managed to write them down. No professional narrator can match what the author intended.
That's what I love about listening to read-by-author and recording my own audiobooks.
Every title with an audio version available is labeled with "(+ audio). I literally "wrote the book" on the topic: Narrate and Record Your Own Audiobooks: a simplified guide. And a whole page about my evolving audio recording booths is HERE.
5. About AI Audio
AI Audio has undergone massive advancement since I first started testing it for various companies in 2014. I feel that it has finally crossed over from "listenable under duress" to a fine way to consume audio. As good as "read by author"? No, and it probably won't be for a long time if ever. But I can now produce an audio book, in my voice, in 1-2 hours. That used to take 40+ hours to narrate and engineer. That's a lot of writing time and I've decided that for some titles, especially the ones I'll never manage to go back and narrate, that this is an alternative far better than not having an audiobook at all. Listen to a sample yourself and see what you think!
Check out this sample from Kate Stark #1, Final Taste:
6. Trigger Warnings for My Fiction
There may be any number of triggers in my books. I never include anything for the sake of shock value: gore, abuse, etc. However, if it fits the character and the story, I don't close the door and shy away from it.
In my romances, the sex may be wild or intimate, but you won't find any of the pornographic elements of Tab A into Slot B. My villains may be villainous in the passions and their actions. In writing military, as I often do, I feel that it would be unfair to have death and injury occur wholly off-scene; the costs of war being so horrendous that I don't wish to make them pretty even for my fiction. In my thrillers, death is not much prettier.
As to language, my characters do not use excessive cursing, but no softened form of an f*-bomb belongs in a military character's speech when pissed. Or a villain's view of sex.
So, while I'll never include gratuitous sex, violence, or language, please be warned that I don't pull punches in my fiction.
7. What's up with Poughkeepsie anyway?!
The town of Poughkeepsie keeps popping up in my stories. Why? I lived there for six years (7th-12th grade) across the road from IBM's original plant, the old pickle factory. It's the sort of town that reminds me of the W.C. Fields quote: "I went to Philadelphia, but it was closed." I once described it as: "An okay place to live but I'd hate to visit there." Besides, with a name like Poughkeepsie (Poe-kip-see), how could I not make fun of it.
8. No, really. Where do I start?!
There's no one true answer. It depends on what you like. Here are a few teasers to help you decide:
- Plunge into harrowing action-adventure technothrillers with Miranda Chase (a military air-crash genius).
- Find out why TV's national chefs are dying on-air by joining Kate Stark in the Kate Stark Secret Service agent turned television chef thriller series.
- Seeking adventure and romance with the dogs of the Secret Service? Sniff out the White House Protection Force romantic suspense series.
- If military romantic suspense leads the charge for you, find true love while flying high with the US Special Operations helicopter regiment of The Night Stalkers. Soar with helitack wildfire firefighters in Firehawks. Or, to hunt for the heart's connection with the very best warriors in the world, join Delta Force.
- Contemporary romance warms your heart? Go for a romantic stroll through the small town of Eagle Cove along the Oregon Coast, wander through the fashion and food center of Seattle's Pike Place Market in Where Dreams, or find true love under Montana's Big Sky at Henderson's Ranch. Even explore a traveling B&B that can only be found by those who most need it by checking in at Love Abroad.
- Did I mention that the Software that Runs the Universe is going to Hell...literally! Deities Anonymous will take you on a fantastical romp.
9. Privacy Policy
Click HERE to read.