Once A Vagabond's COVER

The cover is done and what an amazing cover it is!!!! It won’t be long now. If all goes according to plan Once a Vagabond will be released in May.

So get ready to experience an amazing ride with unforgettable characters that will have you crying one moment and laughing the next.

I must say, the waiting is killing me!

Discover how an orphan train survivor overcomes hardship and loss while struggling between letting go of the past, and trusting her heart to the man who not only lied to her but was responsible for her being on the train.

So until next time, happy reading.

Kim Leady
Incredible stories…Unforgettable characters

www.kimleady.com

What a journey!

Once a Vagabond is now done. I really enjoyed telling Abby and Ethan’s incredible story.

I have laughed. I have cried, and even my heart raced a time or two, but like all good stories – the end has finally come. There were a few times that it felt like I was nine months pregnant and I just wanted to get it over. But most of the time I enjoyed writing about Abby’s temper and courage, and Ethan’s charm and resolve.

Now the hard part comes…waiting for Once a Vagabond’s release. Time was flying as I raced against my deadline, now it is crawling as I wait for Abby & Ethan’s story to get into reader’s hands.

I guess it’s a good thing that Once a Rebel showed up on my doorstep today. I can’t wait to read it. The plot is killer!

So until next time, happy reading.

Kim Leady

Incredible stories…Unforgettable characters

www.kimleady.com

Location, location, location…

A B C D E F – I bet you’re wondering what the alphabet has to do with location. Well I’ll tell you. Believe it or not, there is an area about thirty miles north of San Francisco, California - Point Reyes Peninsula – which in 1866 was sectioned off into 33 tenant dairy ranches. Each was given a letter in the alphabet, with ranch A being the closest to the lighthouse.

And this is where Once a Vagabond plays out and Abby and Ethan’s path cross again for the first time since he put her on the orphan train. Ethan is now the new first assistant to the lighthouse keeper and Abby is one of the peninsula’s teachers.

Neither recognized one another at first – almost ten years can do that you know – and the fact that Ethan mistakes Abby as a hooker only causes their relationship to start off as turbulent as the waters surrounding the rocky and rugged cliffs of the peninsula.

Unfortunately, by the time Ethan finally figures it out that Abby is the young girl he’d befriend in New York City, he’s afraid to tell her since she knows him as John Cable. A man she now finally trusts.

Happy New Years!!!!

So until next time, happy reading.

Kim Leady
Incredible stories…Unforgettable characters
www.kimleady.com

Abby’s human crystal ball

Can you imagine your path crossing with a person who knows things about you that only you know? I mean it’s one thing to seek out psychic counseling; it’s another to have it land in your lap. Talk about freaking out!

Well, this is what happens to Abby on her sixteenth birthday while she is doing her “food liberation dance”, i.e. pocketing food from venders, along Market Street in San Francisco’s Fishing Wharf area.

Mercy is nothing like any other person Abby has ever met. When Mercy tells Abby that she has been in her dreams and visions over the last five years and that they were destine to meet, Abby thinks the old women isn’t sitting squarely in her rocker. But when she lets the bomb drop about knowing its Abby’s birthday – a fact that no other living soul knew - she doesn’t know what to think.

What would you do?

Well, I must get back to working on Abby’s story. Once A Vagabond‘s deadline is looming.

Only 18 shopping days left.

So until next time, happy reading.

Kim Leady
Incredible stories…Unforgettable characters
www.kimleady.com

Once a Vagabond’s hero…

It always amazes me how and when things come to me concerning the characters I’m writing about, or the stories I’m working on.


As we all know the shopping season is in full swing, and I was one of those many brave (or stupid depending on how you look at it) souls battling the crowds on Black Friday. And while waiting in line to check out, the face of Ethan, Abby’s hero, became crystal clear. Up until then I had a loose idea of what Mr. Dreamy looked like, so this was like fine tuning a pair of binoculars.


So I thought I’d share with you what Ethan looks like in my mind. He has piercing blue eyes. His unruly chocolate waves brush his collar. Ethan’s square chin and strong nose have seen a fist a time or two, which ads to his already rugged stubble face. He has broad shoulders and stands several inches over six feet. And he’s very good at using his devilish smile to get himself out of scrapes.


Ethan is easy going and quick to laugh, but he can also strike as swift as a rattler when cornered or made mad.



Meet Ethan, although this photo is of Patrick Dempsey, Ethan could be his brother.

Until next time, happy reading.

Kim Leady
Incredible stories…Unforgettable characters
http://www.kimleady.com/

The wrong train...

Here is a snippet on how Abby ends up on a train - the wrong train.

The hero, Ethan, who is only 14 at the time, decides he can no longer protect ten-year-old Abby from the streets of New York – a vow he made to Abby just months earlier after her mother and father were killed in a dock accident.

Not knowing what to do, he seeks out his old friend Father Malone, who helps children get out of the city. Knowing Abby’s fear about cramped spaces and crowds, Ethan has Father Malone help him drug Abby to get her onto the train.

Unfortunately, Abby is not put on one of Father’s Malone’s Catholic trains. She is accidently put aboard another orphan train – one that doesn’t have specified families waiting for the children on the train. The type of train Abby finds herself on is one that stops at small towns along the rail line, and for a better description, holds orphan auctions at each stop.

Things are moving a little slower than my normal pace. Research, research and more research. But fear not, the train has picked up speed.

Until next time, happy reading.

Kim Leady
Incredible stories…Unforgettable characters
www.kimleady.com

Almost done!

Hi all! I'm almost done with "Once a Rebel"

...only had time for 1 revision, but I'm thinking I do my best work under pressure! LOL ...I guess time will tell, eh?

Last week, I metioned the heartbreak of the OT riders and found something I wanted to share. It's taken from an one OT boy's story:

The eldest of five, Ayler had a younger sister, three year-old brothers and an 18-month old brother. The younger girl, who suffered serious mental damage from successive bouts of whooping cough and diphtheria, was eventually returned to the mother.

"My nickname was Toots, but the twins, who couldn’t pronounce it, called me "Choo Choo"! They were taken to a boys home just around the corner from the Empire State Building along with the baby, while I was sent to the Goodhue Estate on Staten Island. I can still remember when they separated us, the boys crying and pleading, "Don’t go away, Choo Choo." It cuts like a knife, even after all these years."

--UGH! Pass the Kleenex!!

On a lighter note, 'Rebel' has become dear to my heart and I, too, am completely in love with my dashing hero! *heavy sigh*

...A sizzling dreamy hunk, a sultry spitfire temptress, romance, revenge, deceit, betrayal and murder...what could possibly make for better reading? ;)

Until next week...Have a Happy Halloween!

ONCE A REBEL by Angela Ashton, coming March 1, 2008

Preview of Once Jilted

Wow, I've been working hard on this piece and I must say, I'm really, truly excited about it. I'm so in love with the hero I don't want the story to end. Whaaaaa. Okay, so - let's see if I can give you a preview of what to expect;

Blurb:

How many times will an orphan be cast aside before someone offers love?

Shauna Joyce has three weeks to find a husband or face watching a special little girl fall into the hands of loveless parents. An orphan herself, she knows the heartache of growing up without love. Armed with a need greater than her own, she finds a likely candidate in bridge-builder, Kane McKenna.

Kane McKenna has one goal; to finish the bridge he’s erecting so he can earn the capital needed to start a business of his own. A wife and child would drain his finances, so when Shauna Joyce proposes marriage, he balks at the idea. Will her determination be enough to build the bridge of trust needed to make him trade one dream for another?


Overview:

Kane is a burly Irishman with a sexy accent and dimpled smile. He's quite the charmer and flirts outrageously with all the ladies. Something about the man tugs at Shauna's heart and her interest quickly turns to love, but Kane has ghosts to fight, and he's not easily led to the alter. Shauna has faced more rejection than a body has a right too, but she's strong and she knows what she wants. She wants Kane. Together, they learn the true meaning of trust.

I spent about two hours yesterday researching the exact location. Oh, I knew I wanted this story to take place in Indiana because of all the covered bridges, but I wasn't sure exactly where. At first, I had the story happening in Bridgeton, but I've since changed my mind. Why? Because I needed a small town that was near a river and close to a train depot. And -- I found it. I'm so excited. My story will take place in Nyesville, a small town not far from Rockville and very close to the Little Raccoon River. Too cool.

Welcome

There are only six months before Champagne Books’ Orphan Train Series hits the shelves. However, before that train pulls into the station there is much to be done. So join our authors – Rebecca Goings, Angela Abate, Kim Leady, Ciara Gold, Lee Ann Ward & Jane Toombs as they discover how their girls deal with the hands life has dealt them, and the pact they made with one another.

1st book – Once A Dreamer, by Rebecca Goings
2nd book – Once A Rebel, by Angela Ashton
3rd book - Once A Vagabond, by Kim Leady
4th book – Once Jilted, by Ciara Gold
5th book – Once Wayward, by Lee Ann Ward
Final book – Once An Outcast, by Jane Toombs