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Chapter One
When Seth called for the third time in as many minutes, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to ignore my brother today. And that made my stomach hurt as I considered my ever-growing list of things I had to do. He was never this persistent—he knew I rarely answered my phone during work hours—which meant whatever he was calling to talk to me about, it was something important. And Seth Hastings didn’t take importance lightly. Could he have picked a worse time, though? Sighing, I picked up my phone and hovered over the answer button for a moment before I connected the call and held the phone to my ear. “So you are alive,” he said before I even took a breath to greet him. I winced. He was literally on the other side of the country, and he still managed to put me on edge with his growl. If I didn’t know he was one of the kindest, sweetest men on the planet, I might have believed his anger. But it was really just a mask, and he was using it on me for the first time in a long time. I didn’t like that. “Nice to talk to you too,” I muttered, and my eyes returned to my computer screen. I still had a presentation to prepare, and if my assistant, Travis, didn’t come back soon with the report I’d sent him for, I was going to have a whole lot of nothing to show the firm’s board. It didn’t matter how good of a financial analyst I was; I had to prove I was worth the consideration for the promotion. Someone had to lead the team, and I wasn’t going to let Cal Mikaelson pass me over yet again. This was my year. “Would you stop working for two minutes, Lissa?” Seth grumbled into the phone. Either he was a better super soldier than I thought and had somehow managed to set up surveillance in my office, or my half-brother knew me a little too well for a guy I’d only met a few years ago. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said and pulled up my projection sheet for Sonya Yun’s portfolio. This info was a start, but I needed Travis to come back with that report. Without it, this was just a bunch of numbers. “Was there something you needed, Seth?” “Yeah,” he replied. “I need you to stop working for two minutes so I can know you’re actually paying attention and not just tuning me out while you browse stock markets.” I rolled my eyes, even if he couldn’t see me. I figured he could probably sense my annoyance, since he was pretty much superhuman. It was a pity he had given up his Special Forces days to be a private bodyguard; his skills were a bit wasted on the quiet life he lived now. “You clearly have no idea what I do for my job,” I said. “Which is rich, coming from a guy who has a degree in Economics.” “Not the point,” he replied. I quickly sent yet another message to my assistant, asking him where he was and why it was taking him over an hour to go two floors down and grab a folder. “But seriously, Seth,” I said, “I have to get back to work. What is this about?” “I’m getting married on Saturday, Liss.” I nearly dropped my phone. This Saturday? But his wedding wasn’t until December. I had a whole… I stared at the calendar on my wall, realizing with a twist in my stomach that it was December. “That’s what I thought,” Seth said, apparently reading into my silence. “You forgot about Thanksgiving—again—so I figured I would give you a reminder for this one. I’m only getting married once.” If you’re lucky, I thought to myself. I had no reason to doubt his marriage would be a lasting one, since his fiancée, Catherine, was quite possibly the most perfect woman in the world, but I had seen love fall apart—especially in my own life—way too many times to not be a bit cynical. “I didn’t forget your wedding,” I lied. “So you’ll be here?” If I got this promotion, which was the plan and had been for years, I was going to have to dive right in and completely overhaul the whole department to get it running smoothly. And that wasn’t something I could do overnight. I couldn’t just drop everything and leave Boston for a whole weekend. Read the whole chapter here...  I'm so excited to announce my next book! It's coming out on June 30—so fast, I know—and it's definitely one of my favorites so far! It's up for preorder on Amazon, and I can't wait for the world to meet Lissa and Steve! When all your plans fail, can you find the courage to follow a new path? Lissa Montgomery is on track to be Boston’s top financial analyst--or she would have been, if her misogynistic boss had ever given her a chance. Suddenly jobless, Lissa has little hope for her life going according to plan. But then she meets handsome and charming Brennon, a workaholic who is just as driven as she is. In order to spend more time with him when he’s not at the office, she agrees to look after his blind roommate, Steve, after he’s hit by a car. Where Brennon is sweet and thoughtful and practically perfect, Steve is grumpy and abrasive and refuses to find a reason to be happy in his newly sightless life. Getting to know Brennon, though, means being stuck with his best friend too, even if he is a little rough around the edges. But as Steve starts to open up and finally live again, Lissa realizes there’s a lot more to life than climbing the corporate ladder. And she has to wonder who is really blind, since Steve seems to be the only one who can see what is right in front of him. Preorder it here I don't know about you, but my sense of time is all out of whack. We've somehow already blown past Mother's Day, and summer is right around the corner here in Utah. I got to spend some time hanging out in the backyard with my mom over the weekend, and let me tell you... I am so glad she's nothing like the mother character in my first book! She's the best mother I could possibly have, and she taught me pretty much everything I know, from sewing (poorly) to baking (much less poorly) to being kind to the people around me. She's the best. Shout out to all the amazing mothers out there! Last month I told you guys a bit about me, and I got some amazing responses and got to know some of you. It was awesome! It's so fun to learn about the people behind the screens that are keeping the world connected. So now I wanna know more about all of you! Tell me about your favorite books or your first memories of reading or if you're secretly more inclined to watch a movie than read (like me--shh!). Reply to this email or connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. I would love to hear from you! :) Hope everyone is doing well out there in the world. Stay safe! Check out these fun promos full of sweet love stories to keep you smiling. Looking for some sweet contemporary romances? 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So that’s me! Now I want to get to know you. Why do you read? Are you a writer like me? What’s your creative outlet, or what’s your favorite thing to do outside? I read every email and respond to every message because there’s something important about human connection, even if it’s only digitally. So let’s connect! You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or comment here! I’ll be there. :) I have a problem. And while to some this may not sound like a problem, it's definitely a problem for me. Because here's the thing: I have too many ideas.
Like I said, some of you might not see why that's a bad thing, but let me tell you. If I could stick with just one, I probably wouldn't be sitting here writing a blog post because I would be too busy working on said idea and creating the next story. The problem is I have so many ideas that all want my full attention that I can't focus on just one, so I'm not really getting anything done. Wanna know all my projects that are floating around in my head right now?
Somebody send help! Or maybe just tell me to close my eyes and point, and stick with that until it's actually finished. Pin the plotline on the story, anyone? Needless to say, there's plenty more coming, and as soon as I can actually sit myself down to work on something, I'll have the next book out there in the world for me to grin at because I made a thing and it's pretty. Are you a multi-tasker or a one-at-a-time kinda person? Let me know down in the comments! Who doesn't love free stuff?
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But I'm doing my very best, and in the weirdest way I feel like I'm an old dog being taught new tricks. I'm not old. I promise. Or maybe I am. Age is relative, after all. So with every passing day as I step deeper into this book world, I'm having to learn new things, and it's a little bit terrifying and overwhelming and exciting, and I'm probably going to do many things wrong. That's just how it goes when you don't take to the tech world super easily. I never did like my STEM classes, which is how I ended up a writer instead of a veterinarian which was my plan for an embarrassingly long time. So bear with me, friends. We'll get there together. Now if someone could just show me how to use those silly little filters on my Insta story...  Hey! I'm Dana. I've been telling stories my whole life (even if I was my only audience sometimes), and there's something about writing and giving life to characters that gives ME life, so it's not something I will ever stop doing.
I have a BA in Creative Writing from Southern Utah University, and I am where I am because of professors there who helped me expand my potential when it came to writing and editing. If I'm not writing (which is almost constantly, sometimes even while I'm doing other things), I'm often outside. I was raised to enjoy camping, hiking, backpacking, whitewater rafting, and even just sitting out in the fresh air, and I've had many a story idea while out in the wilderness. If I'm not writing or outside, I'm baking, and I've always thought owning a bakery would be fun (until I realize that wouldn't leave any time for writing). So I bake for myself and my roommate, and I'm honestly surprised neither of us has gotten fat yet. I'm a firm believer that everyone has a story inside them, and no matter how you share that story with the world, it's one that is worth telling. |
Dana LeCheminantLifetime writer, outdoor enthusiast, lover of baked goods Archives
July 2021
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