In my latest romantic suspense, DEADLINE, there's a tree covered with ribbons. The story is that after a local high school athlete died in a tragic accident, students tied their ribbons to the tree where he died… and students have continued to do so ever since. It was inspired by the real life "shoe tree" on Crossland Road in Ontario, Canada. We pass it every time we drive up to Wasaga Beach. 
It's beautiful and haunting, but nobody I've talked to seems to know when or why people started tying their shoes to this tree. Some people say there is no story behind it and that people just started doing it for fun. But it definitely sparked my imagination and trickled into the story of Deadline.

Very excited to announce that my upcoming romantic suspense novel, Silent Hunter now has a cover! I think it's so beautiful and eerie too. Silent Hunter comes out February 2015…. and features a small cameo from one of your favorite characters from Deadline. 

My amazing friend Jenn sent these pictures of her new puppy Hudson trying to decide if Deadline was edible or scary… I think Harry has a new fan!

A huge thank you to all of the wonderful readers who have emailed me so far with your thoughts about Deadline. I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying it! Thanks also to all the wonderful friends who went searching for it in stores in their areas and then sent me pictures when they found it. You guys are the best. :) 

Just got back from a wonderful time at the Romance Writers of America conference in San Antonio. It was my first, ever trip to Texas, and I absolutely Loved it. I came back with 42 new books -- that's 26lbs of books in all. A big highlight of the trip was spending time with my fellow Love Inspired authors. I feel so blessed to be able to write alongside such a wonderful group of authors. Below is a group picture of up all from my fearless editor, Emily Rodmell's Twitter feed. (If it doesn't open automatically on your browser, just click on the link). Aren't we shiny? :) 

Very excited when the mail arrived today and I got a whole box of copies of Deadline! Actual book comes out in August. I can't wait for you to read it and tell me what you think!

So happy to announce that my new novel DEADLINE is now available to order from Amazon. 
The book hits store shelves this August, but you can preorder it now. 
I'm really excited about this one. It's romantic and suspenseful, and has an absolutely beautiful cover.
Daring reporter Jack Brooks is in a race against time to stop a ruthless serial killer, but gets far more than he bargained for when he tries to talk spunky wedding planner Meg Duff into helping him.
I really hope you like it.
To find out more click HERE.

My car was vandalized. 
You may have seen it all unfold on my Twitter feed. 
(I tweet far more than I blog, so it's always worth checking the bar on the right to see what I'm up to.) 
But yeah, someone smashed the back window of my car. Which was a rather horrible thing to have happen. But fortunately the cops, the insurance company and the car repair people were all excellent. 
An officer came by the house today to talk to me and interview my neighbors. Small Dog was very excited about this, and thought he should be her new best friend. Maybe she thinks his weapons will come in handy in her ongoing battle against the neighborhood squirrels. 
It's funny…. I invent fake cops and imaginary crimes in my head all the time. Police officers play a huge part in the Love Inspired Suspense world -- and especially in my upcoming book, DEADLINE. 
But it still doesn't shake the unsettled feeling of realizing you're a victim of crime and having to call the cops and file a report. 
I'm thankful, at the end of the day. Really thankful for good cops, kind people, and the peaceful life I live.

My Russian weapons' expert suggested I try my hand at archery… 

(Well, he's actually just a computer programmer and the husband of a friend, but he IS Russian and is an expert in all sorts of interesting weaponry. Not to mention having a beautiful accent which any evil Bond villain would envy.)


I saw him at a Christmas party this Winter, and mentioned that I'd put everything I knew about illegal assault weapons into Killer Assignment. 

He said, "Pfft. What you want is to write an archer." Then he leaned towards me. His voice dropped. "You see that tree way over there? I could shoot the star off the top from here. And no one would even hear me!"

So, there you have it. I was hooked. I went and took an archery class. And I changed my killer to a stealthy, silent archer. Can't say I'm able to murder any tree decorations yet, but I did manage to kill a few balloons. :)

One of the things I absolutely love about the editors and writers who create Harlequin's Love Inspired novels is how they make announcements, celebrate new covers, and even just chat about the ups and downs of daily life on Twitter. I've just created my own special Twitter profile at @MaggiekBlack to talk about books and keep my readers up to date on what's happening next. If you're on Twitter, please drop by and say hi! Writing can get a bit lonely sometimes, and I'd love some online company with my morning coffee.