Time Will Tell
Sandy Loyd
Romance and adventure...and a trip to where an American tradition began…
Libby Edwards, a gifted horsewoman, unwittingly wishes herself back in time to Louisville, Kentucky just before Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby become a reality. During Libby’s journey in the past, she stumbles upon her destiny. Unfortunately, he’s in the wrong century. In 1874, there’s no electricity, no internet, no modern medicine, no antibiotics—no Starbucks! And even worse than that, women have no rights. Libby has no desire to stay.
Widower, Colin Thorpe, a renaissance man of his time, has big dreams. He is a horse breeder who names his thoroughbreds after Mythological Gods because he has a reverence for past cultures and an appreciation for the unexplainable.
Libby and Colin can’t resist falling in love with each other. After all, Colin accepts Libby for who she is and she understands Colin’s dreams better than his deceased wife ever did. Yet he grasps early on that Libby doesn’t belong in 1874. And because his wife never adapted to the move from Virginia to Kentucky, becoming bitter and unhappy in the process, he won’t take the chance of the same thing happening to Libby. Can these two lovers find a way to be together despite their challenges?
Purchase link for Time Will Tell: Amazon
Getting to know Sandy Loyd
Sandy Loyd considers herself a Western girl through and through. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, she's worked and lived in some fabulous places in the US, including San Francisco and West Palm Beach. She now resides in Kentucky and writes full time. As much as she loves her current hometown, she misses the mountains and has to go back to her roots to get her mountain and skiing fix at least once a year. Otherwise her muse suffers.
Sandy is now an empty nester and writes full time. To date, she has published eleven books - four contemporary romances, four romantic mystery/suspense /thrillers, a time travel contemporary/historical romance and two historical romances that are sequels. She strives to come up with fun characters – people you would love to call friends and she always tries to weave a warm love story into her work, while providing enough twists and turns to entertain any reader.
When friends ask her what she loves best about living in Kentucky, the list is long. The people are warm and welcoming. The weather isn’t too bad. Louisville is big enough to provide a cosmopolitan feel without the downside of larger cities like congestion and traffic. But what she loves most about living there is having a thoroughbred racetrack right in her back yard. Not just any racetrack, mind you, but Churchill Downs, home to the Kentucky Derby, a horserace that’s run every first Saturday in May and is the beginning leg of the triple crown of thoroughbred horse racing.
Back when she was a newcomer to Louisville, Churchill Down’s beginning interested her, so she researched it never realizing how difficult the early 1870s were in US history. Citizens were still recovering from the War between the States as well as a recession. In her opinion, the country needed a reason to celebrate and Louisville gave it to them in the form of the Kentucky Derby. It’s been a big party from that first race when an estimated 10,000 people watched fifteen horses compete for the win that has only grown in size and popularity. 2012 was a record breaking year for the Derby when nineteen thoroughbreds raced for a crowd of over 165,000. It’s been touted as being the most exciting two minutes in sports and anyone who has watched those fast majestic animals race can surely understand why.
As a writer, she became more intrigued and decided it would be a fun topic to write a story about it. Her main goal was to show that time through today’s eyes, so the reader can appreciate the vision a few men had for their city and that of the racetrack they built. Time Will Tell, the first book in the Timeless Series, gives the reader a glimpse of what went on in the summer of 1874, when visionaries put their dreams into motion.
Currently, she's working on the fourth book in the Timeless Series and hopes to have it out by the middle of October.
Jillian: What’s the first book you remember reading?
Sandy: I went to a parochial school with a small library. I think I was in third grade and remember checking out biographies of famous women like Elizabeth Blackwell, Molly Pitcher and Clara Barton. My favorite was Molly Pitcher, because she was as brave as any soldier on the front line defending against the British. Elizabeth Blackwell is my next favorite biography because she overcame great obstacles to become America’s first woman doctor.
Jillian:What turns you off like nothing else?
Sandy: Inconsideration for others. Whether it’s drivers who don’t signal or people who push into line ahead of others. Rude people are everywhere. I think the world would be a better place if people were more polite and thought of what they looked or sounded like while being rude.
Jillian: Where do you read and how often?
Sandy: Since I spend so much time on writing, my pleasure reading is limited to before bed, at night with my Kindle so I don’t disturb my husband. I’d love to read more, but if I did, I’d never get anything done.
Jillian: What sound or noise do you love?
Sandy: I love the sound of waves crashing on the beach. It’s a soothing sound and can be loud or soft, depending on the wind, the tide and the time of the month. Except for hurricanes, I would love to live near or on the ocean.
Jillian: Describe your favorite kind of hero to read/write?
Sandy: I love a tortured hero. My favorite men are usually well-educated and have lots of options, and are still unlucky at love or have some reason for evading a lasting relationship. I really like it if I can create a diverse character that encompasses several stereotypes. The protector/provider, the rogue or outcast, and a guy with some flaw that makes him all the more loveable are just a few that come to mind.
Jillian: What’s something you’d like to tell your fans?
Sandy: I’m an avid cat lover. Although I will admit to owning a dog after he found us. I’m a sucker for strays that no one else will adopt. My latest was a scrawny, ugly cat with a crooked tail who turned out to be a beautiful full-furred feline with a lion-like mane. She’s the sweetest cat. And between the cat and the dog, I don’t know which one I could now live without.
Jillian: Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?
Sandy: I’m definitely a coffee person. With half & half. I used to mix a little coffee with my half & half, but I’ve learned to just use a dollop now. I don’t need the extra calories. I’ve tried tea, but it’s just not the same. I live for coffee and if I don’t get my morning fix, I’m miserable. Yes, I know!!! I’m addicted. But I heard coffee is an anti-oxidant.
Jillian: What would you say is your most interesting quirk?
Sandy: Don’t tell anyone, but I’m cheap. This comes from growing up poor. I’m just now learning to not obsess and realize it’s okay to let go of this worry. In some ways it’s great because I love looking for bargains and saving money, but in other ways it can be stifling. I still clip coupons even though a lot of my friends consider it a waste of time.
Sandy has a question for commenters: Time Will Tell goes back to a time in history that interested me. How about you? Is there any time or place that you’d love to witness first hand if you could go back? If so, let me know. I’d love to hear about it. Who knows, it might spark you to write your own story.
Sandy is offering a signed copy of Time Will Tell (in US only) or an ebook if outside the US to one lucky commenter. Remember to leave your e-mail contact information along with your comment to be included in the raffle giveaway.
You can find more information about Sandy at www.sandyloyd.com. Like her on Facebook www.facebook.com/sloydwrites or follow her on twitter at www.twitter.com/sloydwrites.
***Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.
All For Spilled Blood
by R. Ann Siracusa
Harriet Ruby, Tour Director Extraordinaire, and her fiancé and favorite spy, Will Talbot, travel to Russia undercover as tour directors for the US delegation to an international youth conference. Harriet tackles her first covert assignment to investigate smuggled artwork while Will’s mission is to locate and destroy a group of terrorists recruiting young computer experts.
Their marriage plans hit a snag when Will locates a long-lost cousin with startling news about his heritage. When the artwork being smuggled has particular significance to one of the terrorist sympathizers, their missions entangle and begin to unravel, leaving Will at the mercy of terrorist kidnappers and Harriet holding the bag.
Excerpt:
We waited without speaking.
I crossed and uncrossed my legs a dozen times and pulled nervously at the hem of my skirt, still unsure whether I wanted to be a spy.
I could get killed doing that.
While I stared out the large window overlooking the pink carpet of cherry blossoms arching over the streets of Washington, DC, the woman we waited for breezed into the office and took her place behind the desk in front of us.
"Good morning, Ms. Ruby." Eleanor Morrison nodded formally, speaking as if the Department of Homeland Security required the use of surnames, then added, "Harriet." She turned her smile to my fiancé. "Agent Talbot. Will."
The formalities dispensed with, Eleanor settled into her leather chair, rested her elbows on the surface of the teakwood desk, and leaned forward. Her intense gray eyes studied me and then flicked to Will.
"Thank you for coming." She spoke as though we happened to be in the neighborhood and dropped in for a visit on the spur of the moment.
I returned her smile with a broad grin. "Our pleasure."
Will and I liked Eleanor. Otherwise, I wouldn't have traveled all the way from Rome, and Will from Spain, to be there. Of course, Eleanor Morrison was not her real name, only the cover name we knew and used. One of the rules of spydom.
"I wasn't sure if you would still be interested in doing work for me." She peaked and unpeaked her fingers. "I thought you two would be married by now and have other things on your minds."
Will and I exchanged a glance. Eleanor quirked an eyebrow. She didn't miss much. Being the definitive perfectionist, her nature didn't permit her to overlook even the slightest innuendo or gesture. Her attention to detail defied reproach, particularly when it came to her official responsibilities.
Fortunately for the US, she worked for our side.
"We're still engaged," Will replied, his tone curious. "Does it make any difference whether we're married or not?"
She pursed her lips. "Married might be better for this mission, but we can make it work." Her sentence ended in a shrug. She picked up a sheaf of papers and tapped them on the surface of the desk until the edges aligned perfectly, then set them in front of her.
I shifted in my seat and clasped my hands together in my lap to keep from waving them around or picking at the arm of the chair. At best, patience and I maintained an uneasy alliance, although I'd learned a lot during the past two and a half years with Will, some of it too personal to even think about without getting hot.
He and I shared such a profound emotional connection, almost at the molecular level, that at times it seemed we read each other's minds. But sitting there in Eleanor's office, as I searched his face and body language for his reaction to her offer, I read nothing. He was playing it close to the vest and screening me out.
My decision. He would not intervene.
Welcome R. Ann Siracusa!
Ann is a California girl who earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from UC Berkeley, then went immediately to Rome, Italy. On her first day there, she met an Italian policeman at the Fountain of Love, and the rest is history. Instead of a degree from the University of Rome, she got a husband, and they've been married going on fifty years. In Rome, she worked for as an architect and planner for a land development company for several years until she and her husband moved to the US.
Now retired, she combines her passions—world travel and writing—into novels which transport readers to exotic settings, immerse them in romance, intrigue, and foreign cultures, and make them laugh. Her most recent release, All For Spilled Blood, is the fourth book in a five book romantic suspense series, Tour Director Extraordinaire.
Jillian: What’s the first book you remember reading?
Ann: Horton the Elephant by Dr. Suess
Jillian: What’s your favorite cartoon character?
Ann: For those of you who may remember, it's Pogo.
Jillian: Be honest, when reading 1st person...do you miss the hero’s POV?
Ann: Not if the book is well written. I find that a good writer can convey what the hero is most likely thinking and feeling through action/dialogue/showing (even the subtext). First person is challenging to write, but for certain types of books and characters, it's the best way to tell the story.
Jillian: What's your favorite kind of story to get lost in?
Ann: I'm pretty eclectic in my tastes, but I'd say mysteries/intrigue/thrillers and science fiction are my favorites.
Jillian: If you couldn’t be a writer anymore, what profession would you take up?
Ann: I did it the other way around. My first profession was architecture and urban planning. When I retired, I became an author.
I'd select the same career path if I had a chance to do it over. My only regret is that I didn't realize at a younger age that I wanted to be a writer. I would have learned the craft of novel writing and associated myself with other writers at a much earlier age, so that when I could write full time, I would be closer to publication.
Jillian: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?
Ann: I find finishing a book is rather anti-climactic. I've been over and over it already. I'm tired of it and anxious to get on to the next project (your next book is always the best). Usually, I don't have the luxury of putting the manuscript away for a few weeks before I begin fine tuning and editing.
My advice would be to not wait to begin the next book, even though you're still polishing the one you just finished. It's very easy to get out of the habit of writing, and very hard to reestablish it.
Jillian: What do you do to unwind and relax?
Ann: You mean I'm supposed to get time to unwind and relax? Why didn't someone tell me that? If I ever had such a miraculous moment, I'd read or quilt. I used to ride quads in the desert, but I don't do that much anymore.
Jillian: Which of your characters would you most/least like to invite to dinner, and why?
Ann: I'd most like to invite the hero and heroine from my Tour Director series, Will Talbot and Harriet Ruby. Why? I find them both intriguing and fun, and I'd love to hear more about their adventures—and I'm definitely in love with Will. (Sorry, Harriet.)
Jillian: Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?
Ann: I do read reviews of my books (when I find them) and look for things that will help me improve my writing. If the review is negative, I put it away for a week or two, then read it again. There is always something I can learn from it.
I never respond to reviews, positive or negative, and I wouldn't change my style or voice because of a review. It's only one person's reaction.
Ann has a question for commenters: Do you like a lot of physical description of the hero and heroine in a novel or do you prefer a few key points and then imagine what the character looks like? I'm giving away the first four e-books of the Tour Director Extraordinaire series to one lucky commenter!
Where to find Ann online:
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***Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.