I was destined to become a romance author. When I was a kid, a local TV station showed an old black-and-white movie about King Arthur. I was swept up by Guinevere and Lancelot's forbidden love. At the end of the movie, when she renounced their relationship and entered a nunnery, I was horrified. Love stories require happy endings. I wrote a strongly worded letter of protest and mailed it to the local TV station. What I hoped to achieve is beyond me, but even as a child, I wanted to go on record as a true believer in the happy ever after.
Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I wrote stories. Most of them were pure wish-fulfillment. My heroines were kidnapped by aliens, carried off by pirates, or fought Nazis. Eventually, college, graduate school, marriage, and motherhood sidelined my creative writing. I always meant to get back to it someday, but real life kept me busy and I procrastinated. After my children grew up and left home, I had a come-to-Jesus moment. If I wanted to be a writer, I needed to get cracking. No death bed regrets about unfulfilled dreams for me.
I joined writers groups and studied craft. It took a few years and a lot of trial and error to figure out the writing system that works with how my brain is wired. (A big shout out to Becca Syme, who introduced me to Cliftons Strengths. Without her, I’d still be a wannabe author.) I discovered that I’m an intuitive/discovery writer. I have to live the story along with my characters in order to see what happens next. No outlines or plotting, no character sketches, no beat sheets. Attempting to outline shuts down my creative muse.
When I start writing a new book, everything I know about that story would fit on a note card. It’s like taking a leap of faith into the dark. Yet this system always works. My intuition knows what to do before my conscious mind does. My mantra is “my back brain will provide” and I move forward in faith that the story and characters will come.
After I finished the first draft of my first novel, I looked at my favorite author’s copyright page. I hired her developmental editor and cover designer, women I’m still working with. I’m an indie author, but I signed a contract with a digital distributor that allows me to have my books available both wide and in Kindle Unlimited.
I write what I love—steamy paranormal and post-apocalyptic romance. Right now, I’m getting ready for the release of my first enemies-to-lovers story, Marked Under the Midnight Sun. I’m also working on the fourth book in my Black Rock Guardians series, Beneath a Shifter’s Sky. I’m living my dream.
Marked Under the Midnight Sun Black Rock Guardians
Book Three
Susanna Strom
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Cougar Creek Publishing, LLC
Date of Publication: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781960382092
ASIN: B0CKKXFYFC
Cover Artist: Lori Jackson
Tagline: He was loaded for bear. And he still wasn’t ready for her…
Book Description:
Viggo
I do jobs no one else in my pack can do. Dirty jobs.
Like kidnapping Liv Hagen.
I didn’t want to do it. I was just following my alpha’s orders.
I never thought my bear would think she’s ours.
But there’s no way I can keep her. The consequences are too dire.
So, when the time comes, I’ll have no choice but to surrender her to fate.
Even if it kills me…
Liv
Kidnapped, held captive, and used as a bargaining chip against the Black Rock Guardians.
Yeah. Seems about right for my luck.
But if the big, bad bear shifter thinks I’m going to submit to his—or anyone’s—will, he’s got another thing coming.
Which is why I’ll just have to ignore my attraction to the sexy jerk. It’s probably Stockholm syndrome, anyway.
I mean, it’s not like he’s my fated mate or anything… right?
Marked Under the Midnight Sun, Book 3 in the Black Rock Guardians Series, is a lightly angsty, enemies to lovers paranormal romance with plenty of spice and tense moments, and just the right amount of suspense, action, and adventure. Download today and get ready for the supernatural romance you didn’t know you needed.
Excerpt:
Liv huddled next to the
campfire, a flimsy Mylar sleeping bag wrapped around her shoulders. Soaking
wet, her cheeks flushed scarlet from the frigid air, the human was in trouble.
The sun had dipped below the horizon and the temperature was plummeting.
I glanced at my shivering
captive. “Gimme your coat, dress, and boots.”
“What?” she sputtered. “Dude,
I’m not stripping in front of you.”
My lip quirked. Nobody but
this feisty, gotta-be-freezing-her-ass-off woman would dare call me dude. Most
pack mates cringed in my presence, and referred to me as Mr. Creed, or sir.
Not Liv.
“You’ll never warm up if you
spend the night in wet clothes.” I pointed at the sticks wedged into the ground
next to the campfire. “I’ll put your things close to the flames to dry out.”
“Forget it.” She yanked the
emergency sleeping bag up to her ears.
I bit the inside of my cheek.
I never got a good look at her body underneath the sodden down parka, but her
legs were shapely and I bet her figure matched.
What
the hell am I doing?
Was there any thing more
pointless, more self-destructive than being attracted to the woman I’m turning
over to my heartless alpha?
Time to shut this shit down.
I stepped toward her and
deliberately shaped my features into an intimidating scowl.
“You telling me you’d rather
freeze to death than take off your wet clothes?”
She didn’t answer, probably
realizing how foolish she’d sound if she said yes.
“My orders are to bring you
safe and sound to Medved. I can’t let you get hypothermia.”
“And a flunky like you
doesn’t dare disappoint his alpha, right?” Scorn dripped from her voice.
“That’s right.” No point in
taking offense when she spoke the truth. I lowered my chin and put command into
my voice. “So either you strip or I’ll do it for you.”
Color returned to her cheeks
in an angry flush. “Try it, buddy, and you’ll lose a hand.”
I could easily overpower the mouthy woman and peel her clothes off. Grizzly
shifter versus human? Hell, no contest. Liv wasn’t stupid. She had to realize
how powerless and vulnerable she was. Still, she jutted out her chin, and her
pretty brown eyes shot sparks.
Rubbing the back of my neck,
I debated how to handle the insolent human. I’d ripped her away from everybody
and everything she knew. Her next few days were bound to be rough, especially
if she shot off her mouth in front of Medved. Why not cut her some slack? If
she saw me as a reasonable man, she might be more willing to listen when I
warned her to mind her manners in front of my alpha.
“How about I turn around and
look the other way while you undress?” I proposed.
The fingers clutching the top
of the sleeping bag had turned bone white, and she trembled from the cold.
“Fine,” she said reluctantly. “Do it.”
I put my back to her. “Just
don’t get any crazy ideas about picking up a branch and clobbering me.”
She snorted. “We’re in the
middle of godforsaken nowhere.” I heard rustling as she dropped the sleeping
bag and shed her wet clothes. My imagination filled in the details as I
imagined her naked behind me. “Even if I managed to knock you out, where would
I go?”
Susanna loves to read―and write―stories full of complex characters who find love, hope, and connection while navigating through an exciting and dangerous world. Susanna lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband and two very spoiled cats.
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