Romance so hot...it melts your Heart

Bodice Rippers … Seriously

This is one of my favortie posts from years past. Since I’m taking an unexpected trip home for family business, I don’t have time to come up with something original for my blog. I hope you’ll enjoy this post from a few years ago…

We’ve already established. I read ROMANCE. I write ROMANCE. I’m not ashamed. I don’t hide it and frankly I don’t care if other people think I’m some bimbo whose not capable of understanding a complex sentence or able to string more than three words together without giggling. What I choose for relaxing has no bearing on whether I can discuss the latest green technology or cook a seven course meal (which I can’t, but that’s not my point).

So the romance genre gets a bad rap. Who cares? Get over it.

There have been blog posts in the past where people have lumped the whole genre under “Bodice Rippers“. The outcry from romance authors was a firestorm of indignation. Comments posted on the blogs went viral. I couldn’t understand why it mattered. Granted, the term Bodice Ripper seems to originate from a 1980 New York Times article:

“Women too have their pornography: Harlequin romances, novels of ‘sweet savagery,’ – bodice-rippers.”

It no doubt was spurred on by images of covers like those above (which I love, thank you very much). It’s meant as a derogatory term. Yeah, so? Some people don’t like romance. Like this guy who thinks romance is disguising itself as thrillers, suspense and paranormals. Um, no buddy, romance stories ARE thrillers, suspense and paranormals. But you know it’s okay if he doesn’t like romance. I don’t like Dr. Pepper, rude people, documentaries about wars or men named Charlie (that last one I just made up). Sue me. Point is, Dr. Pepper commercials will never appeal to me no matter how much dancing, cute puppies or sexy men are involved. They aren’t going to get me to buy their product.

Not only do I write romance, but I go even deeper into the red-headed stepchild realm by daring to write smut porn erotica. And no matter how much someone might like romance stories (despite the fact that even mainstream is becoming hotter and hotter) there are some who wouldn’t pick up an erotic book if George Clooney said he’d read it to them. Frankly, I’d let George read me my grocery list … but I digress.

I’ve had people look down their nose at me and claim I write Smut. “That’s ROMANTIC smut actually.” See? I don’t care. When someone says they wouldn’t like my stories because they don’t read that. I smile and tell them “oh, but you’d like mine”. Okay, maybe not the erotica, but still, I’m proud of what I write. I’m happy to be part of the biggest market share of the publishing industry.

An English professor at the university I attended a few years ago said “Hemingway is way up here. We’re somewhere down here. Our goal is to improve in writing so we’re somewhere in the middle. That means we’re successful.” Ummm, excuse me? Hemingway died a lonely alcoholic at his own hand. Most people read his stuff in high school or college classes and never think about it beyond the test. That’s really not what I’m striving for. I want to entertain, to sweep readers away on a fantasy and if I can create memorable characters along the way that wiggle their way into the reader’s hearts … all the better. Yeah, I’m quite happy being part of the Bodice Ripper genre thank you very much.

Does *FREE* Cheapen the Value?

Yes I’m an author. I love writing books. It’s what I do. But as I’ve said over and over and over again, being a writer also means I am the publisher and the marketing department for many of my books.

It still eludes me exactly what makes a best seller in this market. It’s not only a great cover and catchy blurb. Not just wonderfully well-written story and great reviews. It’s not social media and guest blogs. You know how I know that? Because none of that is working for me. Been there. Done that. Have the bruises to prove it.

So I’m trying something new. I’m giving away one of books for FREE. That’s right, “BLIND HER WITH BLISS” is now free on Smashwords and All Romance Ebooks. And as soon as Barnes & Noble and Amazon catch up (translation: until they figure out I’ve got it for free somewhere else and price match) … it will be free there as well. How long will I keep it free? I’m not sure. What I do know is that many, many authors with free books are seeing them fly up the lists. No, I won’t be making money, but perhaps readers will find my book. And when they find the first book in the series I’m hoping it will lead them to DECEIVE HER WITH DESIRE and CHEAT HER WITH CHARM, the other two books in my sexy romantic suspense series. “Blind Her” will become a loss leader and hopefully making me money by being available for free.

Now there are A LOT of authors trying this strategy. The KDP Select Program through Amazon offers authors the ability to offer their books for free for 5 select days without jumping through hoops and trying to price match. The problem is the book can ONLY be available at Amazon for 90 days. Anyway, with all the books available for free, readers can’t possibly read everything they’re downloading onto their kindles and nooks. And some readers have come to believe that free=unedited crap.

I’m hearing more and more people who say they download free books only to get through a page or two, perhaps a chapter before discovering the book was never edited. And since more and more of these books are out on the market many people think it’s giving self-publishing a bad name. Or worse, that authors are selling their hardwork short and not giving it value.

Kristen Lamb wrote a very long blog post about the FREE! phenomenon. You can read the full article HERE. Go on, take a minute and check it out, I’ll wait…

So what do you think? She makes some valid points. But I don’t know if anything is going to change with the free phenomenon in the publishing world any time soon. This whole book selling thing is a business. That means owners (authors) need to find a market for their product (books). If this means passing out coupons for a free sample, then why not? I wouldn’t mind getting a free bottle of Lemon Fizzle Soda. I enjoy a lemon wedge in my cola, but I’m not sure if I’d like it flavored like that. But I’d be willing to try it especially if the company offered it for free. Who knows I might fall in love with it and go out and buy their cherry, vanilla and regular flavor Fizzle Soda because it was so good.

So that’s what I’m going to try. Just a chance for readers to try my books without investing a whole lot of money. Will it work? I don’t know. I’d like to think readers won’t turn their nose up at it just because it is free. It’s hard to know. But since this whole thing is one big experiment, I figure it can’t hurt.

In the meantime, I’m waiting quite impatiently for the proof copy of “Dangerous Affairs”. The print version of the three “Tilling Passions” books together under one cover. ====> I. CAN. NOT. WAIT!

 

Where’s Nina?

I’ve got a busy day scheduled and I hope you’ll join me.

First I’m hanging at I Write Hot chatting about “BLIND HER WITH BLISS”. (Though it’s not really considered erotic romance, it’s a little too steamy for their I Self-Pub.) This is a new site that is just getting up and running. I hope you’ll stop over and help me support them and their efforts to get the word out about erotic romance and self-published books.

I’m also spending the day at Coffee Time Romance Blog. I’ll be hanging out all day giving away books and goodies and having a generally wild party. I hope you’ll stop over and join me.

Cheated out of Six 1/29

Welcome back to another Six Sentence Sunday where authors choose six sentences from one of their books to share with readers. Since I’m in the last stages of getting my sexy romantic suspense series in the print anthology DANGEROUS AFFAIRS, I thought I’d share six sentences from the last book in the series Cheat Her With Charm.

Even in the darkness of the kitchen, the heavy snow outside glowed eerily on the trees. The branches bent and swayed in a mesmerizing ballet with the wind. It was beautiful to watch, but if it continued to ground planes and keep her fiance stuck in Philly, Meghan would be a basket case.

On a heavy sigh, she headed for a flashlight in the bottom drawer by the sink, intent on starting the kerosene heater and snuggling back into bed. As she stepped around the counter, an arm came around her chest, pinning her arms and trapping her against the hard wall of a large male body. The attacker’s other hand snaked up from behind and covered her mouth, stifling her surprised scream.

I always enjoy all your comments. Thank you. Click HERE to check out other authors participating this week.

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Reader’s Choice

The Houston Bay Area RWA chapter is sponsoring JUDGE A BOOK BY IT’S COVER contest. There are over 170 books in 8 different categories.

The wonderful thing about the contest is that each cover is judged on its own merit. There is no voting for only one cover per category. It’s not a popularity contest, but a true reader’s choice in voting. I have entered Deceive Her With Desire in the romantic suspense category.

I hope you’ll take a few moments and go over and VOTE!

As the Page Turns

What makes you read a book? I don’t mean, why read books at all. But why that book? Did the cover originally intrigue you? Did you pick it up because it’s your favorite author? There are any number of reasons we choose one book title over another.

Before I go on and in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m going to admit I read books differently now that I’m an author. I used to pick up a book and travel along the plot blissfully unaware of all the rules and tricks writers use to move the story forward–to pull the reader into the next chapter if you will. And though I haven’t lost the joy in reading, it’s now part of my “job”. I read now to learn. A very different way of enjoying a book.

It’s hard for me these days to find a real page turner. But the last book I read, Susan Collins’ The Hunger Games not only has kept me up at night, but rolled around in my thoughts making me wonder about the characters even when I wasn’t reading.

And it got me thinking about what makes a book a real page turner.

In the case of The Hunger Games not only was the setting intriguing, being some post-apocalyptic United States with an overbearing government, but the characters, young adults just working to survive the harsh realities of their lives, made me care what happened to them. For those of you who don’t know the premise, the government wants to remind its citizens of a failed revolt and so they send 24 teens into a large arena once a year and have them fight to death, rewarding the victor with both individual riches and food and rewards for their sector…a very interesting premise.

Now, mind you, this is a young adult novel, which means the author had to carefully select how the protagonists of her book would survive and yet not come across as murderers and therefore unsympathetic in the reader’s eyes. May I just say, she pulled it off brilliantly!! I couldn’t read fast enough to find out how the competition would be eliminated especially after the young lady became allies with some of the competitors. And those she did have to kill had become horrible villains for the reader and therefore, deserved to die. Susan Collins’ skill in manipulating my emotions was admirable. By the time the hero and heroine emerge victorious (I don’t think I’m giving anything away since these are romances of sorts) I was thrilled, relieved and wrung out from worrying about their well-being.

These days it takes a lot to keep my attention. I’m finding fewer and fewer books make me want to read them. It may be because I’ve been caught in a genre loop. I’ve been reading a lot of paranormal and fantasy type stories. I’m not sure. The current book I’m reading, Lori Foster’s When you Dare, a contemporary undercover operations story, definitely has me intrigued. She’s holding onto a secret that propels me forward and makes me want to know who is after the heroine and what their motivation would be to kill her (at least I think that’s what they want in the end). The suspense is definitely propelling me deeper into the story. (Of course the budding romance isn’t hurting my enjoyment of the story either. *g*)

But that’s just me and what keeps me up at night reading. What about you? What pulls you into a story and makes you burn dinner or stay up into the weeeee hours of the night? If you have any reading recommendations I’d love to hear them!

The Changing Author

Cigarette hanging from her mouth, the ash long and dangling. Smoke circle her head as fingers peck out a rapid tattoo on the the old Royal. Papers balled and crumpled near the waste basket as her characters chatter incessently in her ear, but not loud enough to get it juuuuust right. And as the final pages add up on the corner of her desk, she renews her efforts to finish that manuscript and get it out to a publisher.

That’s how I picture my favorite author’s careers in the past. It was all about the writing. All about receiving that boxed manuscript from an editor with redlines and arrows indicating editing suggestions. Editors and publishers had time to put time and energy into a book, to groom the author and create an image and a marketing plan for her and her books.

Sadly, those days are gone.

An author no longer has the the luxury of just sitting down at her computer and pounding out a new best seller. There are so many hats she must wear. Writer, editor, marketing guru and in many cases, publisher.

Publishers now want to see manuscripts that have had the bulk of the editing done. Beta readers and critique groups are now working with an author to find unforgivable flaws with a hero no reader can love. They’re helping fill in those small plot line holes that an editor used to discover. If a manuscript hits an acquisition editors desk with any of those problems it will no doubt receive a form email rejection. If the author is fortunate, there will be some explanation as to why it was rejected, but often there isn’t time for an editor to explain in detail why a book “doesn’t fit”.

With the advent of digital books authors are no longer receiving advances. Advances meant an author was compensated up front for months of being bent over the keyboard. Without the advance, the author now depends only on royalties from sales to make her money. (I don’t even want to speculate my hourly rate of pay for the books I’ve written.) Without the backing of a marketing department from the good ‘ole days, it also means she has to go out and pound the pavement to let readers know she has a new book out there. Spending time on Facebook and Twitter shouting about her book, which equals time away from writing the next book.

Now, Amazon and Barnes & Noble among other venues, have made it possible for an author to actually publish her own book without going through an agent or publishing house. And as exciting as this has become for authors to have full control of their books, it’s also a heck of a lot of work. It becomes the responsibility of the author to find her editor and cover artist. To make sure the book is formatted correctly for all digital platforms. And as you can imagine, this means more time away from writing.

To keep up with this changing world many authors are hiring assistants who can help with the extraneous work load. Of course you need to have the sales to justify this expenditure. Ah hem, I so am not there … yet. And there are publicity companies who are hired by authors to go out and do some of the pavement pounding. But as a reader I find them very annoying and they become white noise in the thrum of all the book marketing. Since I delete these announcements from my email and ignore them on Facebook, I haven’t bothered with any of the companies.

I keep saying this year I’m going to figure this whole thing out. To set a schedule of some sort that not only allows time for all of these things AND writing. Of course before all that happens I do have to get my personal life to slow down juuuust a little.

As a reader do you see these changes effecting your buying habits or has it all happened in the background unnoticed by you? If your an author, are you happy with all the changes in publishing or would you like to go back to the days before digital books? Because you know me, I’m curious like that.

Where’s the Sense in That?

This is just a little rant about something that is in such short supply these days it’s nearly extinct … common sense. Yeah, you remember that? The part of your brain that tells you not to cross the street when traffic is moving or not to spend money you don’t have or hold the door for someone with their hands full. I’m not sure what’s going on, but it seems fewer and fewer people are using this part of their brain.

It seems every day there’s another example of people in the news that win some court battle because the judicial system especially has lost its commmon sense. A woman who spills coffee in her lap and gets a huge settlement because she got burned and no one told her it was hot. The stories of inmates suing victims, prisons, and states for unlawfully keeping them behind bars could fill several wastebaskets. Stories of student victims who speak up and get punished while their bullies walk away without any repercussions seem to fill the news every day.

Recently in a public high school near where I live, a student stepped forward and said a framed copy of the school prayer gifted to the school by the graduating class of 1963 was offended by the wording (because she’s an atheist) and asked the courts demand it be removed from the auditorium wall. The judge ruled in her favor. Families are flabbergasted that this is happening. It’s not that they don’t understand people with other faiths are now attending the school, they just feel this banner is part of the school’s history and it should be preserved for that reason. I tend to agree with the majority on this one.

I’m just wondering when we’ll find our common sense in the midst of one person who feels their wants are more important than the majority’s needs. Can we save it from total extinction in a world filled with people who feel they’re entitled to have everything whether they’ve worked for it or not? I’m beginning to wonder.

Come On Over!

Today I’m hanging out over at SLINGWORDS.

I’m talking about one of my favorite subjects … heroes. What’s a romance without a hunky guy for the heroine to save?

Come on over and join me!

Fighting for What’s Right

I feel very fortunate for who I am and where I grew up. I haven’t known hardship. I haven’t had anyone hate me just because my skin was white. I haven’t felt less or been denied a job because I didn’t look like 90% of the work force. I’ve never worried that someone could think me stupid simply because I fall into a particular ethnicity.

I don’t know what it’s like to grow up as an African-American. I won’t even pretend I can truly comprehend what a huge group of people have had to endure because they were different. But Martin Luther King, Jr knew and fought the good fight. Not only do I admire what he did to advance the equality of so many but my heart aches that he layed down his life for what he believed in.

This is so much more than a day off from work/school. It’s a chance for us to celebrate a wonderful man’s legacy and remember all he gave so others could have more.

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