I live in Colorado, so I’ve done a lot of hiking in the woods.  The only dangers I have to deal with are black bears and panthers, neither of which will bother you if you’re making plenty of noise and minding your own business.  Folks in Montana, where Sullivan’s Promise is set, are facing something far more frightening—grizzly bears. My heroine, Victoria Grayhawk, is committed to protecting endangered species, like the grizzly, while my hero, Ryan Sullivan, is a rancher who would just as soon not have the enormous bears making a meal of his newborn calves. You can imagine the conflict between them when Ryan’s brother is attacked and mauled by a grizzly, which has to been hunted down and killed. I learned a lot about grizzly attacks on humans while doing my research for this book, and I have to admit, I may have scared myself out of the woods, the way Jaws scared me out of the water.  Grizzly attacks are few and far between, but they’re pretty horrific when they happen, which is a lot more often as humans encroach on areas previously left to the bears in Montana.  So hike with bear spray, stay on…

Dear Reader, Having just put my grandson on a plane back to Florida, I’m thinking how lucky I am to live in a place with such great opportunities for adventure. We had a blast! From the challenging white water of the Cache la Poudre River to the wave pool at Water World, Denver Broncos football, bowling, games, movies, and an American Idol Concert, it was a crazy, hectic, amazing week. I’ve been traveling a lot this summer, so the release of UNFORGETTABLE has been delayed, but it will be available soon. I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s (finally!) online. Meanwhile, my novels I PROMISE and HEARTBEAT are now available both in ebook form and as audio books from Recorded Books. New Hawk’s Way reissue . . . HAWK’S WAY GROOMS—which contains two books, THE VIRGIN GROOM and THE SUBSTITUTE GROOM—is available in paperback this month. The latter title contains the sexiest scene I’ve ever written! Read More… For those of you anxiously waiting for Josie’s story, BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE, I’m writing as fast as I can. I appreciate your patience! I know school starts soon, so enjoy the rest of your summer! Take care and happy reading, Joan…

One of my favorite historical western romances, THE BAREFOOT BRIDE, was just reissued and is now in stores in paperback with a fabulous new cover. This is yet another mail-order bride story, about a Boston widow who comes all the way to Fort Benton, Montana to meet her country doctor husband. Read more… For so many of you who have asked about UNFORGETTABLE, I’m not done yet. AAACK! I know how much you’re looking forward to reading it. Probably as much as I’ve been looking forward to writing it. I thought I’d be able to finish up sooner, but the plan is to have it available in August. Check with my Facebook page or website where I will post the release date as soon as it’s finished. The good news is that SINFUL is finished and due for publication on April 28, 2015. It will be followed by SHAMEFUL in late June 2015. Next I’m off to San Antonio, Texas, to attend the Romance Writers of America annual conference where I’ll be speaking and also participating in a literacy signing with hundreds of fellow authors. It’s open to the public, so if you’re in the area, please come and say…

You might think that writing books in a series is easier than writing a book that stands on its own, but each type of novel has its challenges.  Thirty-eight of my fifty-six novels are connected in some way, part of several different series, including Bitter Creek, Hawk’s Way, Captive Hearts, and Sisters of the Lone Star.  I also have a couple of “two-fers”—two connected books. I just finished writing three connected historical Mail-Order Brides books, TEXAS BRIDE, WYOMING BRIDE, and MONTANA BRIDE, which are part of my long-running Bitter Creek series, and I’m currently working on a brand-new contemporary Bitter Creek spin-off called “King’s Brats,” which includes SINFUL (in stores December 30), SHAMEFUL, and SURRENDER.  So you can see this is a format I love. With a continuing series I don’t have to come up with a brand-new set of characters for every book.  On the other hand, I have to figure out how to weave every book together with the others using  both an underlying theme for the series and an individual plot for each book.  I need to give you, the reader, conflict, climax, and resolution in each book, while leaving the lives of other characters in chaos…

The sensational third novel in Joan Johnston’s Western Romance Mail-order Bride series is part of her Bitter Creek series. A DESPERATE DECEPTION THE PROMISE OF FOREVER When Karl Norwood’s mail-order bride meets an untimely demise on the way to the Montana Territory, Hetty Wentworth steps in to take her place. Hetty has no idea how she’s going to pretend to be all the things she isn’t—including the mother of two kids. She only knows her deception is necessary if she’s going to save two orphans from the awful fate she suffered as a child. Karl smells a rat when a much younger woman than he was expecting arrives with two children who look nothing like her. But his mail-order bride is so beautiful, he doesn’t object—until he realizes that his charming new wife has been lying . . . about everything. Can a woman forced to keep secrets and a man hindered by distrust ever hope to find happily ever after in each other’s arms? Bitter Creek series Texas Bride Bitter Creek #1 Wyoming Bride Bitter Creek #2 Montana Bride Bitter Creek #3

In January this year, my friend Gloria will come to my home for three days while we review the ten personal and ten professional goals we set for 2009 and set our goals for 2010. She’ll reassure me that Shattered, my 49th novel and the eight book in my Bitter CreekM series, which hits bookstores on December 29, will sell like hotcakes. I’ll drink lots of hot tea, eat lots of Hershey’s kisses (with almonds) and angst about whether my readers will like Kate and Jack’s story, which they’ve been waiting to read for two years. (I know, finally!!!!) Gloria and I became friends at a Romantic Times writing conference and we’ve shared these sessions–at her house one year and my house the next–for the past fifteen years. It’s amazing how much more you accomplish when you write down your goals and check in once a week with a friend to see how you’re doing during the year. Every goal you write should be stated as though it has already occurred. It should also be something within your control and achievable during the year. I’ll share a couple of mine from last year with you, so you can see what…