Just wanted to wish all who celebrate a Merry Christmas! It’s a crazy time here at Calle-land, as we also have a certain TEENAGER’s birthday this week. I am not sure how I ended up with a teenager so FAST. Poor kid also came down with mono last week, and all she wants to do is SLEEP, SLEEP, SLEEP.

Anyway… When I should have been working, I was playing with some Finley Creek characters. Exploring who they are for later books. And this is what popped out! A 5-story collection, set in Finley Creek! (Click the link HERE or click the image below, to go to bookfunnel and download. I am seriously loving bookfunnel right now!)

It’s available as a free download for a week or so. Then I’ll probably eventually put it up for sale as an exclusive collection. All of the stories are set in Finley Creek. Some are about former characters, some are upcoming characters. One ended up being almost as long as Cherise’s novella! I hope you all enjoy!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Love,

C.J.

On a side note, I’ve been playing around with ElevenLabs AI narration. Right now, I’m doing Beginning (PAVAD 1) to see how I like it. If I do, I’m considering doing the entire PAVAD series this year. To do human narrated would be over 60,000$ for the entire PAVAD series–not including any upcoming books–so audio wasn’t really a priority. But if the ElevenLabs narration works, I’ll share some more details later!

Just a quick note today. Lots going on. Lots. Hubs is taking kiddo down to the doctor today. Poor little beast got a flu bug about ten days ago, now I think it’s turned into an ear infection. She has been a bit puny for a few days now. (It seems like this always happens around Christmas every year.) She has missed tae Kwan do and her softball lessons all month.

Today is also… Liberty’s 18th birthday. We laugh and said she’s old enough to vote now–but she gets so frustrated with politicians, she’s informed me the only thing this doggie is voting for is a law requiring that pizza be in the doggie bowl every night. Because…dogs love pizza, you know…

In book news:

Finley Creek: Enemies Within Book #1 is at the editor and I have an actual release date!

January 29th! (You can preorder it at $5.99. On Feb 2nd it does go up to full price of $7.99). Haldyn’s book ended up being about 125 pages longer than I expected. She’s now as long as Shelby’s book! I’m just wondering how long Powell’s story is going to end up being. Powell’s already has a small cross-over with Masterson County. I’m writing away on Powell now! If you click the graphic below it’ll take to Haldyn’s buy links:

Brrr. It’s starting to get colder here at night in Indiana…makes me think of pumpkin pie and persimmon pudding (my personal favorite dessert) and freshly baked bread…and ghosts and goblins and vampires and…

Reading by the fire. (Ok, so it’s an electric fireplace, since me and kiddo are both extremely allergic to woodsmoke…but…) 

I’ve been doing a lot of writing this month as well (now that kid’s activities have slowed down for a few months, anyway!). She finished fall softball, and got her red belt in tae kwon do this month. It is her last belt before she gets her junior black! She’s my little ninja. We’re also doing private softball hitting and pitching lessons. I’ve found that when we keep that child physically active, she concentrates better. The little beast inherited both my snarky attitude and my ADHD, poor thing. 

Right now I am finishing up the final stages of uploading the newest release!

It is not the Masterson County novel that I expected to have finished this month (there was a slight scheduling problem with that one, so it will release in November instead), but it is set in Masterson County, lol. It is a novella, and features Rory’s little sister Audrey and Glenna’s younger brother Gavin!

THE FUTURE IS A DARK, DARK PLACE NOW.

Gavin Strong isn’t sure of who he is anymore. Or what he wants from his future now. 

Medically discharged from the army after he was the sole survivor of a plane crash on the way to a training mission, he faces a future full of uncertainty. 

But he knows one thing—he isn’t going to lose touch with the only family he has left. He just has to find them first.

His older sister Glenna and her daughters aren’t in Finley Creek, Texas where he expects to find them. But there is a beautiful woman standing on Glenna’s porch, who has the answers. 

SHE SEES THE HURT IN HIS EYES.

She knows what to do with broken down houses and cluttered yards, but house flipper Audrey Donovan doesn’t know how to help the broken-down man standing in front of her now. There is so much hurt in Gavin’s beautiful eyes—Audrey knows she has to do what she can to help him heal. 

Audrey does the craziest thing in her life, and offers Gavin a ride to Masterson, Wyoming. Where his sister and hers are waiting. Hopefully, along the way she can convince him that the future doesn’t have to be so dark and overwhelming, after all.

But Gavin has some convincing of his own to do along the way. And it all involves Audrey going with Gavin now…

And, if you’ve not tried the Masterson County western romantic suspense series, now is a great time to start. You can get books 1-4 in a limited time free ebook boxset. 

And…

I’ve also finished this year’s Halloween short story, set in Finley Creek. It takes place six weeks after Zoey’s book (Hearing her Cries) and features a character introduced in that book. If you missed the previous 2 Halloween short stories set in the haunted hospital room at Finley Creek General Hospital, you can download free copies at the bottom of this post!

**A note though: The Hurts in 403 is probably best read AFTER Hearing her Cries, though it is also a reasonably stand-alone short story on its own!** 

A few more things:

Dusty and Ben in Defining their Destiny will release on November 27^th. It turned out about 80 pages longer than expected, so it won’t be back in time to be uploaded as a preorder (the distributors like Apple and Amazon have a waiting period!). I’ll post a blog when it is live, and you can also sign up for my newsletter at my website: www.callejbrookes.com for updates (though this blog is the most up-to-date social media for me). 

Finley Creek # 13 is 80% finished. I’ll be finishing it up in early to mid November. (Those books always get so complicated once they hit the 75% mark. This one is no exception.). I am expecting a January release, at this point. Watch here for more details!

And on a final note: I am just about finished with Matthuin and Becca’s PNR story! This was one I started twelve years ago, and because of “life” never got to finish. It just kept getting moved further and further down the schedule. I’ll have more details about its release next month!

I also hope to be starting up the blog story for Jume on www.IamJustAVampire.com again, too!

2024 is going to be a busy year with releases, and I’m super excited. I know there will be at least 2 more Finleys coming, and hopefully I’ll be able to get Haldyn, Madison, Powell, and Charlotte out in 2024!

Here are the links for the previous Finley Creek ghost stories! Enjoy!

I’m just going to give a quick update tonight. Life has been crazy hectic lately. (Kiddo jumped fully into 9th grade, a few years ahead of schedule. Little brat. She really was the inspiration for Pen, in the Finley Creek books, btw. Well…except for the dark hair. She has light brown. And well…she wants purple hair, not blue). She’s also doing fall league softball (I am NOT coaching this league! It’s like a vacation!). I’m thinking of upping the physical therapy again, although I’ve found that playing softball with kiddo a few times a week actually helps with the pain, too. So I’m going to take her to an indoor facility during the winter at least once a week.

Liberty the Monster Dog is still going strong. She hit 17 3/4 this month. But she’s kind of needy, that’s for sure. (She doesn’t like to be alone at all, and really thinks she gets to watch Big Bird on the main TV all day long…)

Writing…Hummm…writing…

That’s what I’m updating, LOL.

I am in the final stretches on lots of things. I am sending Dusty/Ben’s story off to the editor no later than Tuesday. When she gets back with me, I’ll have a release date!

I am less than a month away from finishing Haldyn/Jarrod’s book. I am tentatively thinking it’ll release a few days or so after Christmas.

I am a few weeks away from finishing a brand-new paranormal in the PNR series (no cover is made yet). This book was on the schedule to be written back in 2014/15 or so, but because of timing issues, was never written. It’s Becca & Matthuin’s book, and it turned out to be a bit longer than I anticipated. I am also getting close to finishing the rewrite on Anna/Jason’s book. It was always the book I felt was the weakest, so the story has changed a bit in the process of the rewrite. After it and Becca’s books are out, the relaunch of the rest of the titles will be much more quickly. (As long as the editor can keep up!)

And…I am working on a BRAND-NEW novella series of romantic suspenses that tie in to the Finley Creek books and are set in Value, Tx (where PAVAD HIDING took place). I’ll share more details of them later. I think the first 3 will launch in Jan/Feb 2024. They take place during the events of Finley Creek: Enemies Within and will be releasing at similar times.

After Haldyn’s book (Enemies: Within #1), I’m think Madison’s book will be next. Then Powell’s. (Madison and Powell are in a discussion about whose story takes place next, since they happen a bit simultaneously). And then a wrap up with Charlotte and Daniel. (Those two…just won’t stop arguing! I have my theories why…)

I think that’s it for now.

After I talk to my wonderful editor lady who has to put up with all of my errors/typos, I’ll get the official release date for Ben/Dusty! I’ll post it–and preorders!–next week!

Thanks for reading,

CJ

These are a few scenes I had to delete to keep Zoey from ending up 1000 pages long! They were really fun b/c it shows her sisters!

I’m also getting a lot of questions about when the next Finley Creek miniseries Enemies Within comes out. The first will be Haldyn’s book (No title picked yet!). It will be out sometime in early/mid-autumn (US). I don’t know anything more than that yet. There should also be a Masterson in there before Haldyn’s book comes out. (It’s Dusty and Ben, in Defining Their Destiny, Masterson #10).

In the meantime:

Zoey Bonus Scenes here!

And if you missed buying your copy of Zoey’s book, now is definitely the time to do it. It’s available for $6.99 until midnight on June 30th! After that, it’ll be $8.99.

Why did the monsters always come for the innocent?

​

Former Sheriff Zoey Daviess has moved on from her Texas State Police days. Now, her mission is to uncover her birth family’s secrets and reveal the truth about the woman who sold Zoey’s siblings for cold, hard cash. Her search unearths more questions than answers.

To uncover these painful secrets, she must once again join forces with her former partner. Sheriff Murdoch Lake. 

​

The past harbors more pain, fear, and turmoil than Zoey could ever have imagined. With each passing moment, the evil draws closer.

Can Zoey and Murdoch uncover the truth before she is forced to witness the loss of the people she loves the most?

BUY HERE:

Just a short update today. Kiddo has a softball game an hour away at five, so we’re rushing to get her school finished and make sure everything we need is in the car. She has another game tomorrow! It’s a busy, busy three weeks coming up, with softball, finishing the school year, a tae kwon do tournament, doctors’ appointments and all that good stuff. 

I’m finishing up a few work projects. The next PNR has been languishing for far too long, so I’m going to spend some time on that. I’m hard at work on Haldyn’s book, with the Finley Creek series. The Enemies Within mini-series is going to be very complicated, I think. I’ve already had a few surprises pop up—especially with Powell and Gunnar. 

Zoey’s book is now available for preorder. It is the longest, most complicated, difficult book to write I’ve ever had. And I love it! It is around 75-100 pages longer than Shelby, which is the closest book in length. Zoey is as long as Gabby and Brynna’s books combined! I definitely did not expect that!

It answers almost all of the questions about Paige, Luc, Ariella, Caine and Rafe, Simon and Pen’s mother and what she was involved in before… (I hope). 

For now, you can get it for $6.99 as a preorder. On June 30^th, the price will be going up to $8.99. 

I did have the release date wrong in my last post. It releases June 22, not June 20!

Also, if you haven’t read the first Small-Town Sheriffs book, Holding the Truth, it is currently 50% off at most retailers. Murdoch is an important side character in that book, and Zoey makes an appearance, as well. Murdoch’s brother Cam gets his story in HIDING (PAVAD), which happens right before Holding the Truth. (HIDING is available as a free download at most retailers).

Books that tie to Zoey’s birth mother are:

• Redeeming (PAVAD)
• Revealing (PAVAD)–this is where Zoey’s mom’s story line is really introduced.
• Wounds that Won’t Heal (Finley Creek)
• As the Night Ends (Finley Creek)
• Lost in the Wind (Finley Creek)
• Stand Next to Me (where Zoey is a major side character).

Why did the monsters always come for the innocent?

—She’d never stop hearing the cries of the ones most vulnerable.

Former Sheriff Zoey Daviess has moved on from her Texas State Police days. Now, her mission is to uncover her birth family’s secrets and reveal the truth about the woman who sold Zoey’s siblings for cold, hard cash. Her search unearths more questions than answers.

To uncover these painful secrets, she must once again join forces with her former partner.

Sheriff Murdoch Lake.

His rugged good looks were the stuff that made a woman stop and stare, but the moment he opened his mouth, Zoey was reminded why the man infuriated her like no other.

Zoey Daviess was destined for far more than life in little Garrity, Texas.

—He, Murdoch Michael Lake, had been sent there to rot.

Fourteen months ago, nearly losing Zoey showed Murdoch the depth of his feelings for the confounding woman. She owned his heart and soul.

But he’d never confess that. The woman had bite, after all.

Zoey was the long-lost sister of a billionaire. She was meant for a different kind of life than what Murdoch could offer. Murdoch vowed to behave—hands off, no matter how difficult that became each time she looked his way.

Why was it always the innocent who suffered the most?

The past harbors more pain, fear, and turmoil than Zoey could ever have imagined. With each passing moment, the evil draws closer.

Can Zoey and Murdoch uncover the truth before she is forced to witness the loss of the people she loves the most?

HEARING HER CRIES is a 600-page, small-town western romantic thriller. It is a stand-alone novel that takes place in the wider Finley Creek and PAVAD: FBI and Masterson County universe. The Small-Town Sheriffs series contains multiple scenes of violence, adventure, dark criminal behavior, cursing by heroes, heroines and villains, a few mild-to-moderate love scenes, and references to subject matter that may distress some readers.

** Hearing her Cries does make mention of some very sensitive topics, including pregnancy loss, including side characters, and subject matters that may be triggering for some readers, such as mass shootings, child abuse and other dark themes.**

You can find it at the following retailers (so far): 

Apple : https://books.apple.com/us/book/hearing-her-cries/id6449245287

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C5HLX9CW

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hearing-her-cries-calle-j-brookes/1143496179

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hearing-her-cries

Other retailers will be coming soon!

Ah! I didn’t realize it has been so long since I’ve updated the blog! Things always get really hectic here around this time of year. It’s softball season. Kiddo likes it when I coach her team, so I try to schedule a “slower” time during April-June.

I am still heavily at work, but I’m almost completely off of social media right now. (To be honest, I’m almost completely off social media in general, as it’s a time suck and very negative lately!) Right now, most of my non-writing-book energy goes to softball. So far, it’s been going great. We have fifteen girls on the team. 10-12 year olds. 

Half of them are “dating seriously”. Yes. I have a hard time not laughing when I hear them saying that. But I love working with this age group so much. (I did not like the softball to the face last week during warmup though! OUCH!) It was my first ever black eye…

 It’s kiddo’s last year in this league, and that makes me sad. She says she’s not really interested in the grind that is travel softball, so I don’t know what she’s going to end up doing next year. She also does tae kwan do. She got her brown belt this past weekend. She keeps me busy. She has a TKD tournament coming up. I always enjoy those—and who knows? One may end up in a book some day.

On to the book news!

Zoey’s book is at the editor! Her release date will be…

June 20! 

I’ll be posting excerpts and the cover later this week! 

For now, I am hard at work on the next Finley Creek title. It’s Haldyn and Jarrod’s book. And I’m also working on Dusty/Ben’s book. I don’t have release dates yet, but they will both release in 2023. I am also working on some new things for 2024!

I’ll post links to Zoey’s book HEARING HER CRIES once the cover is finished, sometime this weekend or so!

As Always, 

Thanks for reading,

CJ

BTW: Phil Tyler’s book just went free for a limited time! It’s Forever Holding Phil. It’s only going to be free for a little while, so if you haven’t grabbed it, now’s the time to do it!

Well, it’s 2023! Happy New Year! 

It seems like 2022 both dragged…and flew by. It was a very crazy year here. My mom had a stroke last January (right after her 3^rd or 4th bout with Covid) and it took her a long while to get back up to speed. 

She’s “mostly” back to her not-so-old mischievous self (she turned 61 in Oct!) Just last week, I caught her in the woods with my kiddo, her usual partner in crime…swinging on an old rope she’d tossed over a tree branch. 

MOM! Seriously?

In July, Mom got hit with COVID again, and shared it with us. (My second go-round, despite vaccination).

It took me a few extra weeks to feel better, but man, was the brain fog REAL. (If I hadn’t had some books already written ahead of schedule, I’d have been toast!). I’m mostly back to normal now (mostly…) 

2022 was a bit of a blur for about eight months. 

I am so hoping this January I can rest! 

But…now it’s time for my state of the Calle-verse update. 

In 2022, I released Masterson book #7), all four of the There is a Season… contemporary romance books, plus Masterson #8 and Masterson #9 And the online serial that turned into a novella was also published to the retailers. Eight books in one year. I haven’t done that in a long time.

For those who aren’t aware, in 2017, I fell and did major damage to some discs in my neck that still cause issues even after five years of treatment and weekly physical therapy. It slowed my writing WAY down for a few years, and I had to drop two of my series’ because I couldn’t physically keep up. I went from 8 books a year down to 2 or 3 books released for several years. 

Now, for 2023, I am working on even more books. 

Most will be set in the Finley Creek “world”, I think.There are at least 2 Mastersons planned. I never set my schedule in stone b/c of physical therapy, flare-ups, rescuing my mother from rope swings and rogue ducks, etc. 

I am hoping to have at least the first two books of Finley Creek: Enemies Within (the next set of Finleys) finished this year, rather early. Powell/Gunnar and Haldyn/Jarrod, but I don’t know whose story will be first. 

My current main project is Zoey’s book, Hearing her Cries. She’s Small-Town Sheriffs book 2! I have been waiting since 2018 to get to her book (I was working on hers when I fell, actually). However, the technology her storyline was based on is as of 2021..now scientifically obsolete. 

So she’s getting a bit of an overhaul, and it is going very, very well. I am extremely excited to get back to the Small-Town Sheriff titles. I have six other STS titles listed on the schedule (it was five, but Boone from Gil/Sage’s book snuck his way onto the list, I think!) I hated having to put them on hold as long as I did.

They are longer books, and more romantic thriller than romantic suspense. Far more complicated, too. A lot harder to write.

It’s Zoey Daviess and Murdoch Lake. He’s all big and rough around the edges and Zoey’s all cool and guarded. But Murdoch has a sweet side that I am loving exploring. 

For 2023, I am doing some new things, but I’ll get into those at a later date (some of these “new things” involve PAVAD! PAVAD has definitely not been forgotten). 

I am also planning to do more things that are directly available to readers, via my own bookstore. (One of those is Jenny and Rowland from the Masterson series. Watch for their story coming as a free online serial in 2023!). 

I love the creative control hosting my own store is giving me now. Amazon and the other retailers can be very restrictive when it comes to pricing and how they ‘arrange’ series and that kind of thing. 

Having a direct store allows me to play with pricing and offer better discounts and coupons and just do what I want with my books. Sometimes, I want to give coupons or run specials like 2-for-1s and things like that. (All of my current titles can be purchased at my store now. There’s a coupon code to save 10% now.)

I do plan to have a members-only section on my website, where there will be discounts on books, free short stories, and sneak peeks at upcoming releases, stories that are exclusive to my site for the first year, deleted scenes, games, puzzles, T-shirts, that kind of thing. 

Membership will be free, but it will be behind a log-in wall. 

I do think a lot more authors will be having direct-to-reader stores in the future, so keep your eyes peeled for your favorite authors’ sites. I know I plan to buy directly from authors I love instead of going through retailers. 

In 2023, I’m going to focus on just writing more. And more and more and more.

I love, love, love writing. 

When I had to slow down, it was very difficult for me. Writing fuels me in a way other (non-family) things just don’t. 

I’m planning to take 2023 to sit back and enjoy the process again. 

Running a publishing business requires wearing a lot of hats to do so successfully—unless you hire someone to help (which I may be doing in the next few years, I haven’t decided yet). And it does take a lot of time. Time I would far rather spend on writing more things. I’m basically taking 2023 “off” to play with the writing again. 

For the business side of things:

In 2023, I’m focusing on getting my website rebuilt to the way I like it, and on getting the entire catalog into paperbacks and large prints. That’s about it, other than the writing.

My first commitment will always be to writing strong, complex, entertaining, original books with characters that are relatable and understandable, who are facing incredible odds that they learn to triumph over—together. No matter what. 

That is my brand promise now, and it has been since Feb. 2, 2011 when my first book released (a now defunct pen name and that book is down, for possible relaunch later).

This brand promise will continue to be what I promise my readers going forward. 

Every book I release will be as strong as I can make it from a story-telling perspective. I want to bring my characters to life as much as I possibly can.

I want to do more contemporary romances, too. Especially in Masterson. I really enjoyed writing the There is a Season…series. A small town like that is just perfect for contemporary romances. And with all those yummy Tyler cousins wandering around…how can I resist?

So…

My 2023 resolutions.

1. Always write the BEST books I possibly can.
2. Write as much as I possibly can.
3. Stick to my brand promise.
4. Enjoy this writing gig and my readers, who have blessed me in so many ways!

And for a wrap up of what to watch for, books that I have currently started (but don’t know release dates for):

1. Zoey and Murdoch in Hearing her Cries. This will most likely be the next release.

• Dusty and Ben in Defining Their Destiny (Masterson #10). (I’m 95% certain this will be the next Masterson. It will definitely release in 2023). You can read an excerpt here on the blog.

• Powell and Gunnar. Title TBD Finley Creek: Enemies Within. (Finley Creek #12 or #13) 

• Haldyn and Jarrod. Title TBD Finley Creek: Enemies Within (Finley Creek #12 or #13)

• Auggie and Calloway in Seeing the Scars (Masterson #TBD).

• Meyra and Brandt. Title TBD (Masterson #TBD).

• Natalie and Micah. PAVAD #19 SAVING

• Jenny and Rowland. Title TBD. (Masterson #TBD).

One final word: 

The Dardanos paranormal books: Where I am at with them now… 

I have NOT abandoned them at all. I love, love, love my paranormal world. I work in it for a little while every night. I am still in the process of rewriting these titles. Several books in the series needed strengthening a bit to fit the brand promise I’d mentioned above. 

I did have to let them stall out in 2017. In 2018/2019, I took them down for rewrites and started relaunching them in late 2020 through 2021. With illness dominating my 2022, and a scramble to keep up with other things, the PNR once more got back-burnered. 

The next PNR title is a brand-new title featuring a couple that I have been waiting 11 years to finally get to write (Becca and Matt). It is actually going to be finished within the next month, and sent off to the editor. 

After that, there are two more full rewrites planned. And then there are partial rewrites (a bit of sprucing up, mostly) planned for the rest of the books in the series. I plan to weave some all-new stories in around those, as well. 

I will finish Phaena and Eaudne’s stories last, as they are the final stories I had originally intended, and their books are going to be intense. And I want them to be the ones to have the ultimate challenges, because that’s where the first books led so long ago. (My paranormals were actually my very first books!)

Watch for more information on the PNR in 2023, for sure…

I think that’s everything. 

I hope everyone has a happy and lessed 2023!

Love always, 

C.J.