IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE! When the concept of this firefighter box set stole into my brain back in May, this day seemed a loooong way off. But it’s finally the release day for UNCONTROLLED BURN, my firefighter novel found exclusively in the INTO THE FLAMES anthology.
I’ve picked 13 of my favorite passages from the novel. Please enjoy:
1. The smile was reptilian, as if Satan himself had taken possession of this wayward soul.
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… than an interview with Reese Colton, the hero of my firefighter novella, UNCONTROLLED BURN? This sexy vampire arrived on the page as a complete surprise (who knew somone this dark, sexy and irresistible hero could also be an immortal?)
Nina: Welcome to my corner of the internet, Reese. I know a lot of my readers have been looking forward to your visit.
Reese: Nice to be here. I’ve been wondering why it’s taken so long for you to invite me. *leans forward and whispers* You know all my secrets, you’ve delved into the deepest part of my psyche, don’t you think it’s time to share? *leans back with a satisfied smile*
Welcome to the JUST ROMANCE ME blog hop. If you got here without being on the “bus”, click HERE to join the fun and visit the other participating authors!
I’m so glad you could make it. At the time of this post the northeast United States is being hit with the trifecta of winter elements: a blizzard with 12-18 inches of snow and record high tides that may cause flooding (thanks to the new moon) are expected where I live, and record low temperatures. It seems like the perfect time to share one of the chilling scenes from my newest release IN HIS EYES, a romantic thriller that just may give you a few more chills! The scene below will give you an idea of how creepy the villain really is!
It’s always wonderful to be noticed … or is it?
To those around her, Maggie Callaghan appears to have the perfect life…a handsome husband, three beautiful children, and her own business. But beneath her thin veneer lies a dark past and self-doubts. When evidence of her husband’s infidelity surfaces, Maggie leases a cottage on the Maine coast and prepares for her inevitable divorce. But a serial killer is on the hunt—and he’s marked Maggie as his next victim. Now her beachside retreat is the focus of an undercover FBI investigation targeting the murderer who’s left a trail of bodies across two states. As lies and secrets are revealed, Maggie realizes her life depends on knowing who’s protecting her—and who’s got her in his sights.
EXCERPT:
Like most nights, he sat in the alabaster sand, sifting grains slowly from hand to hand as if measuring time. Watching.
Always watching.
People rarely saw him, unless he chose for it to be so. And the woman meandering along the water’s edge was no exception. She had no idea he was admiring her. Appraising her. Measuring her.
With the tide so low, he’d been able to study the exotic creature whose hair rode the wind like black silk. She dragged her feet in the shallow surf, her eyes cast down as if the ebb and flow of the ocean could soothe away her troubles. The dip of her chin and the graceful arch of her neck spoke of a heavy burden.
She walked without a companion. Alone was good.
Lord, she was beautiful.
The sadness that curved her body in on itself made her that much more irresistible. He imagined he could hear the sweet strains of her loneliness carried on the evening breeze.
He didn’t know he was searching. Didn’t realize the moment had come again.
It had been a long time since he’d found someone who obviously hungered for the kind of solace only he could offer. He replayed the scene over and over again, long after she’d left the beach, long after the day had surrendered to the night. How serendipitous for her to be here on his beach.
He sat, quietly measuring time in handfuls of sand, thinking about the grace of her walk, the gentle swell of her hips and breasts, the lovely mane of hair—and he knew.
You are the one. I’ve been waiting for you.
In the solitude of the new moon, he sat for a long time committing to memory every detail of their encounter and formulating a plan to make the woman his own. Satisfied, he strolled back to his cottage—his heart and soul as dark as the murky shadows swallowing him.
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**** CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED *****
Okay, so with all the cold and snow and wind I’m thinking I’d like to get away this weekend with a good book to one of my favorite warm-weather destinations … The Virgin Islands. I was lucky enough to spend 10 days in the sand and surf doing research while I was in college. It was amazing and beautiful.
If money were no issue, where would go … and it’s okay if you enjoy winter (brrrrr) and you’d like to go somewhere cold … and what book would you take with you? Curious minds want to know.
Anyone commenting on this post between now and SUNDAY, JANUARY 5 at 4:00pm EDT will be entered to win a prize pack including a $10 Amazon gift card, some IN HIS EYES goodies, a bookbag and a print book from my backlist. (Shipping to US or Canada only. An international winner will win a $25 Amazon gift card in lieu of prize pack.)
Thanks for visiting. Enjoy the rest of the hop!
So, it’s the question I ask myself every time I sit down at the computer with the intention of writing my next story. Do I write something that’s hot with the market or the story that’s rolling in my head? And trust me when I say … they’re not usually the same.
Now, let me clarify by saying that I’ve never written a story where I wasn’t proud of the final product. It’s just that I’ve enjoyed writing some more than others. And I have yet to have any characters just run away with the story. Nope. Soooooo not me. I’m really envious of authors who say they couldn’t type as fast as their characters talked or that scenes unraveled and they were just along for the journey.
Yeeeeah. Maybe some day.
But until then I weigh and measure which story to work on next. I have figured out I’m a one story author. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t left some of my novels to write something shorter, but I don’t work on two stories at a time. I’m singularly focused. I do have several plot ideas rolling around in my head, all the time, but until I have a really good idea where they’re going I can’t put fingers to keyboard.
For the last couple of years I’ve been really focused on what is selling in the erotic market. I’ve tailored my characters to fit in that mold. And you know what … it was hard. I’m proud of the stories and pleased with the end product, but the journey to completion wasn’t fun. Now don’t get me wrong … everyone, no matter how much they love their job, has those days when they just don’t really want to show up and when work is just that … work. And the same is true for me.
But the last book I re-wrote, the one where the rights reverted back to me, was a wonderful journey of being reintroduced to characters I loooove and writing that makes me VERY proud. It’s a futuristic erotic romance titled A TOUCH OF LILLY and is set in deep space. I really enjoyed creating the aliens and weapons and discovering a new setting. When this was out with a publisher, the reviews were awesome! The sales? Not so much. And that’s supposed to be all right because my writing should be about the story and not about what the readers are buying.
Or should it?
Let’s face it. I’m writing to make a living. I’ve never hidden that fact. When my body gave itself over to the MS I was forced to stop working. My writing has become my new career. Failure is not an option … okay, that has more to do with how I’m wired rather than my need to buy groceries and pay the electric bill. But still, I want this new career to keep me contributing to my family’s budget. So then I vacillate back to … write what the readers are buying. And with this new self-publishing thing going on it means I do have flexibility. I’m not bound to what publishers are buying. Still …
It’s a ping pong match in my head with stories vying for my attention. I don’t know what the answer is. I wrestle with it every time I sit down to write a new story. Ideally, I’d like a balance of both worlds, a story that is fun to write and one the readers will love. I have no idea if I’ll ever find the middle of that road, but I’m working on it.
So as an author, where do you head with your stories? And as a reader do you read by genre or by author or a balance of both? Because I’m dying to know.
And because this is my blog and a place for me to do a little marketing. Here’s the new cover from Dar Albert … an aaaamazing cover artist and the blurb:
Ex-Chicago detective LILLY D’ANGELO has a secret she doesn’t share with anyone. A master of the one night stand, she’s given up ever finding a soul mate and thrown herself head first into her career. That is, until she captures the wrong alien. Kidnapped and sold into the sex slave trade, she’s shipped into deep space. Barely escaping with her life, Lilly now travels the galaxy working as a bounty hunter using her secret talents to bring down criminals and seeking revenge on the one male who ruined her life.
Agent DALLAS SAWYER works for deep space’s version of the FBI. After a disastrous mission that left several of his team members murdered, a president executed, and Dallas near death, he’s determined to take down the assassin targeting government officials. When a sexy human female gets between him and his goal, Dallas and his alien partner find themselves on the receiving end of a passionate night they won’t soon forget and a proposition that may very well blow up in their faces.
Because in deep space … true love can happen with just a touch.
Welcome to another week of Six Sentence Sunday. After several weeks off moving from Rhode Island to Maine, I’m trying to get my feet back on the ground again.
Last month was a wonderful month for my sexy romantic suspense story, “Blind Her With Bliss“! I thought I’d do a little happy dance and give you another six from the first book in “The Tilling Passions” series.
It was a wonder the man pouring his soul out through the piano keys didn’t simply collapse; an empty husk of a body, sacrificing everything to give life to the passionate strains of music filling the auditorium. Surely nothing so poignant could come from anywhere other than the heart. As melancholy notes penned by some dead composer plucked at her heartstrings, Julie could feel Damon’s sorrow filling her and resonating through every molecule of air.
As the emotional melody pulled her along its river of notes, she thought of her family. As much as they aggravated her, they also anchored her—gave her a sense of belonging. Damon had no one.
Available FREE from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo.
Thank you for your comments you leave week to week, they mean a lot to me. And don’t forget to go HERE to check out other authors participating in Six Sentence Sunday this week!
Welcome to another paranormal Six Sentence Sunday. Since this is the last Sunday before Halloween I wanted to share a little something from my futuristic erotic suspense A Touch of Lilly.
Laying over Thaegan’s shoulder as she was, Lilly focused on pouring the sexual energy not only through her palms pressed to his low back, but out through every pore, praying it would be enough to take him down.
The grip around her waist relaxed a fraction and she held her breath, willing the big alien to drop her. When he didn’t slow, Lilly forced the energy higher, her own body burning with the need searing through her. She would be hard-pressed to ease the ache between her thighs on her own. It didn’t matter—all that mattered was getting away from these men.
Thaegan stumbled, a warrior cry ripping from his throat, “stop, witch, I will not succumb.”
This book is also available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Thanks to all of you who stop by to check out my Sunday Six and a special thanks to those who take a moment to comment. I love hearing from you. You can click HERE to check out other authors participating in Six Sentence Sunday this week! See you next Sunday!
So it’s time for another update on my self-publishing journey. Mostly because a lot of people have been asking me questions about the process and what I think of putting my books up by myself.
This post is about money … and how much it costs to self-publish.
A lovely writer was asking me about book covers for her new book that Createspace (the printed book arm of Amazon) said should be out in 2-3 months. Wai … What? *hear a needle scraping across an album* Before I could tell her about a wonderful cover artist, I needed her to explain to me about what Createspace had to do with when her book would be released.
Well, she’d paid them $1400 to “self-publish” her book. I almost fell over backwards. After I recovered I asked what was included in that price. Well, they were giving her an ISBN for both print and ebook … umm, both are free from Amazon. Okay, what else? Well they’d format her book. This is definitely something many people pay for because they don’t want to worry it’s not done right. But the fee I’ve found tops out around $30 per format. So this brings it to about $120 (epub, mobi (kindle), nook, kobo). And it included some editing which you can purchase for upwards of $.01 per word, so about $750 for a 75,000 word novel. It did NOT include a cover.
So she paid $1400 for services that she could have gotten for $870 … tops. I was so sad for her. I wish she had done just a little more research before jumping in. (Keep in mind … in the publishing world money should flow TOWARDS the author. That one piece of advice should be in the back of your brain as you’re making all your decisions.)
Then on the other end of the spectrum I’ve had more than one person mention they can’t afford to self-publish. But with a few really good beta readers (one to read for story consistency and a couple to read for typo/grammar), services you can trade with another author … you may be able to skip the editing fee. With patience, uploading to Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Smashwords, even getting your book ready for print is easy enough. And if you’re not tech savvy, there are pre-made book covers for as little as $25.
There have been many bestsellers I’ve read in the self-publishing realm whose covers aren’t intricate. Yes, a cover is a reader’s first impression, but people will buy a book on a list even if the cover didn’t roll off the NY presses. When you make some money, switching out covers is a simple process. I’ve switched out several original covers for something that better fit the genre.
Let’s face it, this whole thing is a learning process. My feeling if you’re toying with the idea of self-publishing is that it’s better to have a book up and making some money than having it sit unpublished on your computer making nothing.
And to catch you up on what’s going on with me (because I think it’s important for people to share their numbers) … August Sales were amazing and I thought I’d finally found a formula that works for my books. Unfortunately my sales are pushed by the first book in my romantic suspense series being free. Amazon has decided they are no longer going to run the “free” book list next to the top sellers in a category. I have no doubt many of the readers who downloaded my free book saw it because they were perusing the paid books in the same categories.
Guess what happened in September … sales plummeted.
Amazon:
Blind Her with Bliss: Free 9079 downloads (16% drop)
Deceive Her With Desire: 360 sold = $711.30 (43% drop in sales)
Cheat Her With Charm: 282 sold = $563.75 (45% drop in sales)
Shadows of Fire: 14 sold = $34.38
Barnes & Noble:
Blind Her With Bliss: Free through Smashwords
Deceive Her With Desire: 18 sold = $34.92 (32% drop in sales)
Cheat Her With Charm: 14 sold = $27.16 (33% drop in sales)
Shadows of Fire: 4 sold = $9.71
Kobo:
Blind Her With Bliss: Free (no report)
Deceive Her With Desire: 10 sold = $20.90
Cheat Her With Charm: 2 sold = $4.18
Shadows of Fire: 1 sold = $1.23
Smashwords:
The report is difficult to sort through in its current format, it appears I’ve made apporximately $150 in September across all vendors.
I am sure Amazon’s changes had a huge effect on my sales. I can’t say exactly what happened with B&N. Perhaps that’s just the ups and downs of sales. But the fact is … I wouldn’t change my decision to jump on this crazy ride. Feel free to ask me any questions. I’m an open book!
Welcome to my weekly Six Sentence Sunday where I share a little snippet from one of my books. As promised, in celebration of Halloween, I’m going to stick with my paranormal theme. Here’s a snippet from Mating Bonds, part of my sexy erotic susepense “Shifting Bonds” series.
The cougar nipped Jayda’s ass and she yelped in surprise even as tingles of pleasure shot through her.
“I’ll meet you back at the cabin and we’ll go for a run later.” she said as she tried to push him away, but he outweighed her by fifty pounds.
Undeterred, he bit at the hem of her jeans, tugging until she lost a sneaker. His nose nudged under the hem of her t-shirt and Zane’s tongue rasped along the tender flesh of her belly.
She laughed. “You are one determined man, aren’t you—and more than a little horny I see.”
Also available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Thanks so much for stopping by this week and thank you especially to those who take time to comment. Stop HERE to check out other authors participating this week.
Welcome to my weekly Six Sentence Sunday where I share a little snippet from one of my books. As promised, in celebration of Halloween, I’m going to stick with my paranormal theme. Here’s a snippet from Bonded by Need, part of my sexy erotic susepense “Shifting Bonds” series.
His strong cougar body brushed against Jayda—a shoulder running along her side, the flick of his tail along her jaw, the unexpected nip of his teeth on her haunches making her jump and her womb clench.
Zane stared at her, his pupils dark and bottomless. Jayda thought she’d like to fall into them and stay safe and warm in the cougar’s aura forever.
But the mournful howl of a wolf rent the stillness of the night and broke the spell holding her captive. She’d heard it so many times, Jayda knew immediately Cole called to her. When she turned, Jayda saw him high up on the ridge, Cole’s wolf head thrown back, his anguished wail splitting the night.
Also available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Thanks so much for stopping by this week and thank you especially to those who take time to comment. Stop HERE to check out other authors participating this week.
Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday where I share six sentences from one of my books. In celebration of all things spooky, I’m going to share with you the opening lines of my paranormal books.
This week’s snippet is from my shifter short novel, BONDED SOULS, a paranormal suspense story.
Jayda Kynslan sauntered into the Whip and Bull Tavern, wanting only two things—a cold beer and a hot body. The first, she hoped would ease the heavy ache in her chest. The second would be part of a good-looking man who would replace the images of the jackass who’d broken her heart. This whole road trip to the high mountains of Montana had been a knee-jerk reaction to the asshole’s selfishness. Jayda shook her head, clearing away thoughts of the friggin’ pig of a manwhore. She didn’t want to go there tonight–this night was about getting a little buzz and a whole lot of sex.
BUY from Ellora’s Cave, Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Thank you as always for stopping by and checking out my six. And I really appreciate all the comments you leave. Click HERE to check out other authors participating in Six Sentence Sunday this week.
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