Print copies are now available!

Hi everyone! I’m excited to report that I was notified by one of my publishers, The Wild Rose Press, that print copies of SKELETON BAYOU are now available from their website here. The book will be up at Amazon and other online sources in mid-December. Yay! I’ve already ordered my author copies. Can’t wait to hold that book–an emotional romantic suspense–in my hot little hands.

Blurb: Savannah Love is emotionally and physically battered, but is determined to survive after escaping the hellish imprisonment imposed on her by her psychotic cop-husband. After seven months in hiding, she resurfaces at Mossy Oak, her ramshackle family home on a Louisiana bayou, and attempts to restart her life. The empty house provides shelter, but isn’t the fortress she needs when her cruel ex comes calling.

Mack O’Malley, former cop turned handyman conflicted over a bad shoot on the job, comes to Savannah’s rescue when the psychopath draws them into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Fearful of Mack at first, she soon discovers that beneath his steely exterior lies a resolute defender with a heart hungry for love. Will their alliance save them, or will they fall victim to the Legend of Skeleton Bayou?

Hope you’ll check it out! I’m thrilled to finally have another book available. This one is dear to my heart. You can review all my titles on my website here.

Available titles, jail tour, etc…

Hi everyone. Just FYI, I have one title currently available in ebook form (in a variety of formats) at Desert Breeze Publishing, with five more books to follow through June 2011. CHERISHED WITNESS is also available at Amazon for the Kindle, at ebookreader.com, and B&N.com. Barnes & Nobles is about to come out with the Nook, a new ereader that looks fantastic and uses the new Android operating system. I’m going to get one.

CHERISHED WITNESS is the first book in my New Orleans Detective series. In it, Kelly Watson, aka Teresa Pastral, threw the Fifth Amendment out the window when she testified against her mob boss husband at his murder trial. Now divorced, she has begun a new life in the Witness Security Program. Only–the mob finds her, thanks to handsome lawman J.T. Romano, who uses her as bait to lure the man who murdered his wife and unborn child to town. To ensure her safety, she is forced to trust J.T., the man who has betrayed her to the mob. But can she also protect her heart?

Hope you’ll check it out here. In addition to that book, I have six ebook titles out at Cobblestone Press. They are available here. All but one are suspense, and a few are hotter than others. In addition to those, SKELETON BAYOU will be released in December from The Wild Rose Press in both ebook and print. You can read more about it here.

On another note, last week at the Citizen’s Police Academy, we toured the Hinds County Detention Center, a facility that houses 594 male inmates. Next door to it is the Hinds County Joint State-County Work Center, a facility for misdemeanor offenders that houses 200. Another jail downtown houses 200 mostly female inmates. I was amazed at the size of the detention center and now know that I never want to go to jail. Not. Ever. To say I felt claustrophobic in there was an understatement. I admire the men and women who work there. They’ve got to be tough just to walk in the door. Kudos to all of them!!

This week we’ll hear from investigators. I’ll do my best to report back on that session on Friday. Should be a good one. Then Saturday night I have my ride-along. Can’t wait!!

You can check out all my titles on my website here. Hope you drop by!

Crime Lab, Warrants, & Civil Process

This week during our Sheriff’s Department Civilian Police Academy class, we heard from the Warrant Division, the Civil Process Division, and the Crime Lab, or Crime Scene Unit. A big brutish guy gave the talk on warrants, and told us stories about dragging people out of crack houses with lots of backup. Looking at him, I was surprised he needed it. I learned so much in a short period of time, about warrants, indictments, serving them, and the like. Important procedural tidbits I will definitely use in my books.

Civil Process is just that. It doesn’t involve any criminal activity. They handle writs of garnishment, writs of assistance, serving divorce and child custody papers, lunacy writs, and so on. The lieutenant who talked to us about this had stories, too, about running down a man who bought a car for 14K from a local dealership and managed to do it without giving them any personal information…just a counter check from a bank. Bet that car salesman caught hell! Anyway, he finally ran the man down after three weeks…and after he’d sold the car to a woman who gave it to her daughter in Texas. He paid for the car–with a cashier’s check this time–and all was forgiven.

The crime scene investigation guy described his approach to a crime scene and gave us details pertinent to our local area. Our capital city is in this county, but they have their own police force and CSI unit, so the county isn’t responsible for investigating crimes taking place there. Although deputies can perform their duties within the city if necessary.

My current work in progress is set here in my neck of the woods, so all of this information is invaluable. Next week we’ll tour the detention center and the county farm. We have a meal before each class, too; food cooked by some of the inmates–and it’s delicious. Tonight, we had chili.

If you write suspense, I highly recommend attending your local CPA if one is offered. It’s awesome!

Citizens’ Police Academy

Hi everyone! I’m currently attending a Citizen’s Police Academy sponsored by my local sheriff’s department, and I’m loving it. Last week, we learned about the court system. And last night, we leaned about the SWAT team, the reserves, who are really active in this jurisdiction, and DUI enforcement.

I loved the presentation made by the SWAT guys. They taught us about body armor, automatic weapons, “less lethal” weapons such as Tasers, gas canisters, and bean bags, equipment like the hooligan tool and the big shields they carry, medical support and logistics. We also were able to check out a really cool armored vehicle and their mobile command center. Lots of firepower.

Our SWAT team is made up of officers from two separate jurisdictions, which helps both of them. On the scene in a hostage situation, they have an immediate action team, a deliberate response team, a containment team, snipers, medical support, and logistic personnel. They are highly trained and do an excellent job.

DUI enforcement is critical as well, and from the sound of it our DUI team is overworked because they also train other law enforcement officers throughout the entire state. I had no idea. I’m proud to have such qualified men working our streets.

Our reserve unit is one of the best, with 89 fully certified officers. They receive the same training as all sheriff’s deputies and are qualified to carry out the same duties–only they do it for free because they love it. They also have to buy their own firearms and equipment. Wow. I’m amazed!

My hat is off to these brave men and women who risk their lives for us everyday. My latest WIP is set right here in my area, and I’m excited about that. Be sure to check out my website to read about my available titles and what I have coming up. You can do that here.

The Last Will of Moira Leahy

I’m an only child, so I don’t know what it’s like to have a sister. I’ve always been on my own and never had that unique connection most siblings have. So when I had my sons, that was a special challenge. They had a brotherly bond I didn’t understand.

Families are the foundation of our society. Families are our heart and soul. Our safety…or not. Some families aren’t nurturing or loving. They are filled with abuse and pain. I’m thankful my family growing up wasn’t like that and isn’t like that now, and I feel for those people who don’t have that support system. That cocoon of safety and hope.

My friend Therese Walsh has written a novel about family, about sisters. THE LAST WILL OF MOIRA LEAHY debuts today, October 13, and is available here. I’m so excited for her. This is her first release, and it’s a big one. Please support her and check out her fabulous book!!!

“Today I’m participating in a mass blogging! WOW! Women On Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We’re celebrating the release of Therese Walsh’s debut novel today. The Last Will of Moira Leahy, (Random House, October 13, 2009) is about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost when they were teenagers. Visit The Muffin (http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/blog.html) to read what Therese has to say about family relationships and view the list of all my blogging buddies. And make sure you visit Therese’s website (http://www.theresewalsh.com) to find out more about the author.”

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month

Big Guns Thursday

Chris Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler on SVU

Hi everyone! I only watch TV shows with hot men (for the most part, anyway…lol) and those who carry guns really intrigue me. So I’m starting something new on my blog called Big Guns Thursday, featuring guys with guns from the page of the same name on my website. You can see it here. I’ll use some of those pics, but will also dig up others…and I would love to receive additional pics from some of you. Just email ‘em to melanie@melanieatkins.com, and I’ll let you know when I plan to use them.

Nothing says HOT like a handsome man toting a big gun. My fave, of course, is Detective Elliot Stabler on Law & Order SVU, but many others have also caught my fancy. So stay tuned on Thursdays to see who I’ve chosen as the big gun of the week. ; )

Interview on Blog Talk Radio

Hi everyone! Tonight, September 28, I’ll be interviewed on Blog Talk Radio during the show What’s Hot in Romance. After this date, you can go here to listen. I had planned to post before the interview, but had to go out of town and then some family stuff ambushed me. And, well, you know what they say about good intentions.

Anyway, I can’t wait for the interview. I’m plugging my September book, CHERISHED WITNESS, which is out with Desert Breeze Publishing, the rest of the books in the series, and my December book with The Wild Rose Press, SKELETON BAYOU.

Thanks to all the folks at Blog Talk Radio!!

The new TV season is here!!

Finally, we have new TV shows! I watched Castle (my second obsession) on Monday night and absolutely loved it. What a great show. If you haven’t read Lee Lofland’s recap of it, which he posts on Tuesdays on his blog called The Graveyard Shift, you don’t know what you’re missing. You can see it here. Lee is a former police officer who goes over the show scene by scene and critiques their version of police procedure. It’s just too funny.

Tonight, my favorite show, Law & Order SVU, has its premiere on NBC. One of my SVU twitter friends, SVUwnyxER, made a trio of cakes in honor of the show. Aren’t they fab?? She’s very talented. According to her twitter post, the S is vanilla, the V is pumpkin, chocolate chip, and caramel, and the U is chocolate stout. Yum!!

I’m so excited my favorite shows are back. I’ve missed them.

Writing, reading, and playing…oh, my!

Last week was the most prolific writing week for me in quite a while. The reason? I spent five days in Florida with four writing pals, writing, swimming, eating, enjoying the beach, and just generally goofing around. We had a blast! I won nine dollars playing the lottery (Lame, I know. Right? lol) and chowed down on lots of shrimp. We ate at The Crab Trap in Perdido Key and The Original Oyster House in Gulf Shores, Alabama, in addition to eating in. One night, two of my friends fixed bacon wrapped shrimp. Yum!!

On the writing front, I penned thirty pages on my current WIP in four days, which thrills me because I’ve almost finished the book. Wahoo!! My working title for this romantic suspense is A Stranger to Love. I’ve already submitted the partial to an editor in NY, and I hope, hope, HOPE, she’ll request the full. Fingers crossed. : )

Blurb: A by-the-book cop and single dad rescues a desperate woman who’s being framed for a crime her former fiancee committed. He risks losing is job and his child if he helps her. But she, who can’t have children, risks losing her heart to the handsome father and his precious son.

To read more about me and all of my books, including my titles currently available at Desert Breeze Publishing, Cobblestone Press, and Treble Heart Books, go here.