Looking Ahead

With the release of The Hero Sandwich coming up this Friday I thought I would post some promotion dates.

On Thursday November 8th there will be an all day release party at TRS Studio.

Friday November 9th of course is release day! We have been looking forward to this for a long time. It felt like it would never arrive. If you follow either Karyn or myself on Facebook, we will be having a release event where you can stop by, say hi, and wish us good sales!

November 10th we are at Riverina Romantics with a guest post and giveaway! Be sure to check it out.

November 19th stop by Fictional Candy where Karyn and I interview each other! It was great fun and there will also be another giveaway.

Finally on November 20th you can crawl in bed with Barrett Michaels, the meat in our hero sandwich at Lee Brazil's blog.

The book is available for pre-order at Breathless Press and will eventually be available at 3rd party sites. Hopefully, I got all those links and dates correct. If nothing else this will help me keep things straight. Have a good week. 

A Blurb By Any Other Name

Musician Hunter Blake returns to Banbury Cross to win back his true love, Kate. Will they find a way to make beautiful music again?

Not even a cock horse could bring musician Hunter Blake back to Banbury Cross, yet here he stood, ten years after leaving, to make amends for his past behavior and win back his true love, Katherine Banbury. Their relationship was in perfect harmony until Hunter's excessive drinking tore them apart. Now sober, he's focused on doing whatever it takes to prove he's worthy of her love.

Kate spent the last ten years determined to forget Hunter. With a developer intent on turning her ancestral home into tract housing, Kate had her hands full. When Hunter returns, vivid memories of their passionate history stoke the flames of desire between them. Will Kate fight the attraction or will she open her heart to love once more?

  

I have leaped over the final hurdles. All that is left is release day, which, if I haven't blurted it out enough, is May 25th from Breathless Press. It seems so far off but I know it will be here faster than I think.

I thought I would share how Ride a Cock Horse came to exist. The book was not what I was working on. It wasn't even an idea in the back of my head. Honestly, it started out as a distraction, a way to get over a block I was suffering. I saw the submissions call for the line of Naughty Nursery Rhymes at Breathless Press. I shared a chuckle over several titles with some authors on Facebook.

I googled a few. Tell me that title didn't scream naughty erotic romance—I dare you. An idea formed. I ran with it and subbed fully expecting a 'thanks, but no thanks'.  Sometimes, the unexpected can take you places you hadn't planned. I can't thank Breathless Press or my editor enough for giving me a chance.

For those of you who know me, it should not surprise you I went with a musician. I am sure I looked for some musical element when I searched for a nursery rhyme in earnest. I enjoyed writing it and am thrilled beyond words it will be published. I will be sharing an excerpt with you soon. 

Cover Art

This could not have been delivered to my Inbox at a better time. Having experienced the week from Hell, I needed something to put a smile on my face and this did it in spades. Behold the cover of my upcoming release, Ride a Cock Horse. Artwork is by the talented Victoria Miller at Breathless Press. I don't know who the female model is but she fits my female character perfectly. Male cover model is the swoon-worthy Jimmy Thomas. Counting myself as extremely fortunate to have him on my very first cover. Next to chocolate, Jimmy is my very own guilty pleasure.

I am nearly finished with my second round of edits and admit that I am excited and also a bit nervous. The release is two months away and I will have my hands full with a day job, family, and promotion. Can this wallflower survive the rigors and get out on the dance floor? Looking forward to a full dance card with breathless anticipation.

Round One - The Purple Pen of Doom

That's right. Purple. Pen. Of Doom. I've been working on the first round of edits for Ride a Cock Horse. I was expecting some heavy edits the first time around, especially since my editor is (fondly) referred to as Her Editing Evilness, wielder of the Purple Pen of Doom, master of the Chicago Manual of Style.

I imagine her with purple ink dripping off her hands as she gleefully marks up your manuscript. The one in which your words painstakingly bled onto the document. Okay, technically it is track changes in purple but you get my point.

It was interesting that two of the weakest areas in my manuscript ended up being paragraphs that I knew were not up to snuff. Thankfully I have another opportunity to make them all they can be. It really pays to have more than one set of eyes to review and suggest things to make a good piece of writing into a great piece of writing.

Among the things I will remember for the next submission - look for those nasty repetitive common words! As a writer who always wants to do justice to her characters, I appreciate what an editor's job is. I had no idea really. If you asked me what to expect I would have shrugged and said I don't know. Punctuation and grammar that you miss during pre-edits is a given. However, there is much more to an editor's job. They make suggestions to make your story stronger. They bring up salient points (such as asking what you meant when you used the word 'it'). Honestly, if you have to explain what you wrote, you didn't do it right.

That is just my opinion of course but think about it. An editor looks at your book with a reader's eyes, not just with the discerning eye of a grammar expert. They deserve the thanks that every author I have read gives them in their books. Without the editor, your book can end up less than you'd hoped. And you become more than you were with everything they teach you.

One Helluva Ride

Have you ever thought about writing a naughty twist to a nursery rhyme? When I saw that Breathless Press was looking for them, my imagination went a little crazy. I am so glad it did! The idea of putting my own twist on a fairy tale or nursery rhyme intrigued me. Today I am sharing a blurb from my upcoming eBook Ride a Cock Horse which will be available April 2012.

Not even a cockhorse could bring musician Hunter Blake back to Banbury Cross, yet here he stood, ten years after leaving, on a mission to make amends for his past behavior and win back his true love, Katherine Banbury. 

Kate, adorned with sparkling rings and a tiny bell anklet given to her by Hunter, has spent the last ten years fighting off a developer intent on turning her ancestral home into tract housing. Will Kate and Hunter find a way to make beautiful music together once more?

Makes you want to find out what happens right?

Spent most of today holed up in the writing cave. It was productive. I must be nuts but I now have three works in progress going. I made some decent progress on Sweet Spot. It is turning into the book I hoped when I started writing it. The other two have been floating around for awhile in my head. One involves a book store owner who is in a bit of a pickle and the other is a cop story. As for Ryan and Melinda, they are still on the shelf cooling their heels. I need to make some serious changes to their story.

This has been a weird day. Very weird. Ever wake up and were convinced you were in a Twilight Zone episode? Anyway...have a blogthing. I clicked on the random generator option and this is what I got.

You Are Thong Panties

Woman, you are one hell of a ride! You're a total wild child - and you live for crazy times. Men are attracted to you like flies to honey, even though they know they should stay away. You need an expert cowboy who can keep in tune with your free spirit!

What Kind of Panties Are You?

Top of the World

Yesterday I mentioned how real it felt to be a published author once I returned my contract. If possible, real just became more real! The contract has been executed and I am more official than yesterday. Am looking at my pre-edits checklist. I haven't looked at my book since I submitted, mainly because I knew I would find something I wish I changed or wrote differently. I am always in edit mode. It's the perfectionist in me. The lazy side of me was smiling like the cat in the cream of course.

The real work begins now. This is where the technical eye scrutinizes the writing, grammar, structure, and punctuation. I am still walking on air, still feeling overwhelmed but overjoyed and ready to start my journey.

On a side note, I spent the better part of the day in Sacramento settling my son for school. Not going to lie, I tear up at the thought of him being so far away. We listened to some old school Van Halen and if my lungs had not been so rattly, I would have sung as loud as possible. It was just a Van Halen day. Crank it up, roll down the window and sing it baby!

In-Between Holidays Post

I had a holiday post planned up until I ended up seriously ill on Christmas Eve but am recuperating under the watchful eyes of my boys. I am happy to report (albeit a bit tardy) that my very first contract is signed, sent and it has finally sunk in - this is real. I don't like talking about things before they are truly a done deal. Now I can talk about the next steps which have me nervous and excited. A fantastic pre-Christmas gift indeed.

My upcoming release with Breathless Press is for their Naughty Nursery Rhyme line and is titled Ride a Cock Horse. I am still pinching myself and look forward to working with my editor, the art department (trust me, my artsy self has been thinking about that a lot) and getting my novice toes dipped into the publishing world. While I don't think anything will start popping until after the New Year, I have been thinking about the time and energy that I will want to spend promoting/marketing the book. It is daunting considering the time suck my life currently endures but I am up for the challenge.

If I do not have an opportunity to post again before the New Year, have a safe and cheery one!

By the Book

Pardon the image quality - I took this with an iPhone and unsteady hands because I was precariously balancing myself between a pile of boxes. There is a wall of book shelves in my dad's office that are floor to ceiling books. Two sections of the four are paperbacks. This is a small cross-section. It does not include the boxes in the garage.

Mind you there are technically three rows of books per shelf. If you look closely you can see books behind books. Those back rows of books are stacked on top of each other. I was amazed. I don't remember reading most of them. Hopefully you can see some of the titles and authors. There were a lot of romance books on those shelves. I brought a box-full of them home.