"But Michelle," you're saying, "didn't you JUST have a book release?"

Well, yes. On Tuesday! You can find it on shelves now! But the gears at Harlequin never stop turning, so here's my cover for my August release, which I'm sharing now since you can see it on Amazon already and I want to feel like I still have some sort of control here. ????

You know what’s dangerous? Setting your bibliophile spouse loose inside a book outlet warehouse for three hours on a Saturday afternoon… with or without a budget, it’s a dangerous thing!

There’s a fantastic discount book warehouse about an hour away from where I live, and I kid you not—they have large shopping carts for customers to wheel up and down the aisles. And fill. Fill!!!

Needless to say, the three hours passed very quickly and although I did end up with a cart full of books, I did have to put most of them back. But I ended up with a few titles in the end, and it was a great, relaxing way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Tell me about a time when you spent hours in a bookstore and walked away with… well, fewer books than you wanted to!

If you read FATAL FREEZE earlier this year, you know that the ferry on which Lexie and Shaun were trapped was headed to Argentia, Newfoundland. But have you ever seen what the shoreline of Argentia would look like once the ferry returned to its course?

Marine Atlantic retweeted a passenger’s photo of a ferry’s approach to Argentia, and I thought I’d share it with you here:

Just pulling into Argentia now on the @MAferries #AtlanticVision! Little swell on the water overnight! #NLwx pic.twitter.com/GpwHhCI7XO

— Eddie Sheerr (@EddieSheerr) September 14, 2015

Rather pretty, isn’t it? J

Do you like crafting? This past year, I discovered a new (for me) type of crafting called "felting.” The basic idea is that you take pieces of wool roving, then poke them repeatedly with a needle until the fibres intertwine enough to firm up… and then add more wool as needed while you continue poking to give shape to the object.

Recently, I finished my second felting project. Right now I’m using felting kits, but it’s more typical to use patterns out of books and buy the colors of wool that you need separately.

The needles used are very sharp, so there are also little plastic caps to wear on your fingertips—like silicone thimbles!—to avoid stabbing yourself by accident. Or before you know better… not that I have any experience with that… o_O

Have you tried any new crafts this year? Or do you have a specific type of craft you like to relax with?

Exciting news! There will be another Michelle Karl book hitting store shelves in May 2016, and the title is… UNKNOWN ENEMY. *dun dun duuuun*

I’m really excited to share this story with you all, because it features a number of aspects that are really close to my heart. But I’m not going to give it all away right now – rather, in the months ahead I’m hoping to post some teaser information about the characters and plot.

Stay tuned, but for now… yay! New book!

Things have been a little tense lately online for evangelical publishers, Christian writers, and romance readers. If you’re not aware of the controversy, I’m not going to summarize it here—but if you are familiar with it, you could probably use a smile or two right now.

So, without further ado, here’s a little monkey getting his fur brushed:

And a silly baby goat jumping over (and on!) other baby goats:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWvefaN8USk

And just for good measure, a picture of my cat:

Because you can never have too many cat pictures!

Please don’t take this the wrong way—I’m not trying to make light of the situation happening online right now in regards to a certain book. However, it’s important to keep things in perspective and give ourselves a moment or two to laugh and smile, even during serious times.

Feel free to share your own link to your favorite "little bit of light” below!

 

 

• Ellie Macdonald, whose table was next to Dana R. Lynn's, and who hand-sold her book to me in such a convincing way that I couldn't say no! I wish I could recall how she described it (something meets... something else), but it was a great pitch and Ellie was delightful.
• Sandra Orchard, who is a fellow LIS writer and Ontario resident! I hadn't met her yet and thought it was about time, since we live close to each other and share a mutual friend in Maggie K. Black.
• Emily McKay, whose YA series I was utterly shocked & delighted to find there as I'd been intending to buy the third (and most recent) book later this month. I was glad to be able to tell her how much I and my sister have enjoyed her series.
• Sonali Dev, whose "A Bollywood Affair" I have heard nothing but fantastic things about... and admittedly, while I already have a copy of the book on my Kindle app, I wanted a hard copy to enjoy. We got to swap stories about our earrings, which was fun! 

Are you on GoodReads? I just started a giveaway for FATAL FREEZE and it's open until March 12th! Enter! Share the giveaway with others! Add the book to your "to-read" list! You know, all that fun stuff I'm supposed to tell you to do. 

PS: If you're not on GoodReads, don't worry... there will be other giveaway opportunities between now and April!

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/127611-fatal-freeze

Yay!!! The day has arrived, time to show off our debut covers to the world!!!

Truth be told, the covers have been up on Amazon for a few weeks now, but *shhhh* we're just going to pretend that this is the first time we've all seen them. And really, this way you get to see all three of the April "Killer Voices" cover debuts at the same time. Oooh, convenient!

These three covers below are all for April releases, but keep scrolling to the bottom of the post for more info on the other three Killer Voices debuts coming later this year too.

So, here we go!

Fatal Freeze by Michelle Karl

Doesn't it make you feel cold just looking at it?! Brrrr… have I mentioned I don't like cold weather??? Here's the synopsis, in case you haven't had a chance to read it yet:

CIA agent Shaun Carter is on the trail of an international crime ring, and the sudden appearance of a woman from his past could jeopardize his mission. Missing persons investigator Lexie Reilly's search for a missing teen has put her in the criminals' crosshairs. Joining forces to take down this ring is their only chance of survival. Shaun vows to keep the beautiful investigator out of harm's way and help her find the lost girl. But when their ferry becomes icebound, they are trapped at sea with killers who will stop at nothing to keep them from discovering their secrets.

Royal Rescue by Tammy Johnson

I love the locket on this one! Very intriguing. Here's the synopsis from Amazon:

Hidden away for more than fourteen years, Thea James was presumed dead by most—killed in the fire that burned the royal palace. But Ronin Parrish knows the truth…and so does the person who murdered Thea's father, the king. Ronin takes his new duty as Thea's bodyguard seriously. After all, she's the only one who can clear his father of the king's murder. It doesn't matter that the princess's beauty and strength draw him to her. To a commoner like him, she can never be more than a mission. Now he's in a race to restore the princess to her rightful place on the throne before the unknown killer prematurely ends her reign.

You can check out Tammy's website here and learn more about her writing.

Presumed Guilty by Dana R. Lynn

Oooh, eerie! Creepy forest, rushing river… *shudder* Here's the synopsis from Amazon:

After four years in prison for a crime she didn't commit, Melanie Swanson's finally free. Yet starting over brings a heavy load of challenges. Nearly everyone believes she's guilty—including police lieutenant Jace Tucker. Jace's certainty cracks only when Melanie is repeatedly attacked, and when the people around her are picked off one by one. Melanie's clearly innocent—and terrified. Someone wants her dead to keep her shattered memories from recalling the crime she witnessed rather than caused. She lost her friends, her fiancé and her freedom when she was found guilty—but proving her innocence could cost Melanie her life.

You can check out Dana's blog here and learn more about her upcoming story. 

And there you have it! The cover reveal for the first three Killer Voices debuts. I hope you've been intrigued... but wait, there's more! No covers yet, but here are the other three Killer Voices and their release dates:

• Into Thin Air by Mary Ellen Porter (coming May 2015)
• Covert Justice by Lynn Huggins Blackburn (coming June 2015)
• Cate Nolan's presently untitled debut is coming October 2015
  
  

Thanks for celebrating with us today!

Just a quick note to say that I’ve set up both Facebook and Twitter accounts for Michelle Karl! While this blog is a way for us to chat long-form, it’s more passive on your end… so to connect with me on a more immediate basis, follow me on Facebook or Twitter!

The links are all around on the website, but you can also just clicky here for Facebook or here for Twitter.

See you there!

You may already know that myself and several other new authors to the Love Inspired family were signed on during the Killer Voices author search. The Love Inspired editors chose teams from the entrants, and through several rounds of eliminations, six of us were left!

This April, three of us have our debuts… and tomorrow, you get to see our covers! Oooh, cover reveal, exciting! (Though, that said, if you’re on this website on tomorrow you’ll probably see my cover as soon as you navigate to the site…)

Come back tomorrow and check out the covers of the other two Killer Voices ladies joining me for their debut this April! And of course, I’ll showcase the covers of the other debut ladies a little later in the year, closer to their book releases. Enjoy, and thanks for visiting!

Starting something new can be intimidating… no less so when it’s the first post on a brand-new blog, on a brand-new website, for a brand-new author! But, here goes!

Welcome to my website! It’s just a little thing right now, as I’m new on the scene and only three months away from the release of my very first novel, but I’m hoping that you and I can build this space together.

Yes, you’re a part of this! Readers are an important part of the process, and I appreciate you taking the journey to Fatal Freeze with me.

As I write this today, the Weather Network says it feels like -22 outside. I’m not a fan of cold weather, but I needed to get some groceries, so I bundled up and headed out into the deep freeze anyway. But you know what? The sun was shining, the ice on my car had already softened, and what I thought would be a miserable journey turned into a pleasant afternoon errand.

Sometimes expectations turn out to be nothing like reality… so I’m heading out on this new author journey with as few expectations as possible. And then hoping for sunshine!