Back From Book Signings

I've been AWOL from Fierce Romance for a while to promote my two December releases, The Stranger and I, from Harlequin Intrigue and Virgin of the Amazon in Secrets Volume 21: Primal Heat. The promotion for my Harlequin included two book signings, my first ever. They weren't as terrifying as you might imagine because I was well within my comfort zone for both signings. The first one took place at the Borders in my hometown. I invited friends, neighbors, a few co-workers, and lots of acquaintances. It was a fun and festive occasion. A few people bought several books to give away as gifts. The second signing took place after my romance writers chapter meeting at the Barnes and Noble where we meet. Again, I got lots of support from my chaptermates, and my 90-year old uncle even traveled almost two hours to attend! The interesting part of the signings came in the days following as people around town and my husband's co-workers began reading the book. I'd go to pick up my son at after-school care and the woman who watched him when he was in kindergarten told me that she had just two chapters left and kept getting interrupted and couldn't stand it because she had to finish it! One of my co-workers who couldn't come to the signing and ordered it online brought it to work for me to sign, already bent back, creased, and half-read. She was thoroughly enjoying it. So it's a strange and thrilling experience to have people (not critique partners or husbands) reading my words and my story and reacting to them, thinking about my characters, getting engrossed in the intrigue and action. Writing is so solitary, I think sometimes we forget the end result. I've lived with these stories in my head for so long, it's a bit of a shock to realize they're out there and people are actually reading my thoughts. These are my first two books "out there." Will I ever get over this feeling that somehow other people have invaded my mind to look into my imagination?

Kate St. James talks about "Good Vibrations" in Red Sage Secrets Vol. 21

Hi, today I'm happy to say we have Red Sage author Kate St. James as a guest here.

Kate St. James lives in the Pacific Northwest with her adoring family. She keeps trying to kick them out, but they're sticking like glue...for reasons she can't figure. It's not like she's a model wife and mother. Or is she? Therein lies one of the great mysteries of Kate's generation.

An avid reader since childhood, Kate loves spending her days writing about the hot men and adventurous women populating her head. When she's not engrossed in her fictional worlds, you can find her chasing her hound in the hills above an azure lake, ignoring the smoke alarms blaring from the kitchen, or endlessly renovating her house.

Nicole North: Hi, Kate, welcome!! Please tell us about "Good Vibrations" in Red Sage Secrets Volume 21, Primal Heat.

Kate St. James: "Good Vibrations" is an erotic romantic comedy about a woman who decides to swear off sex while she gets her MBA so her grades don't suffer like they always have in the past when she's mixed men and her studies. Then her favorite out-of-town customer shows up as she's about to give notice at the sex-toy shop she's been managing for her vacationing aunt. Gage is only in the city once a month, so this might be Lexi's last chance to see him...and her last chance to indulge her hidden wild streak before she straps on that chastity belt. So she goes for it, not realizing Gage is moving home--to her city--and has no intention of settling for a short-term affair.

NN: Sounds like a great, sexy plot! What inspired you to write this story?

KSJ: The title popped into my mind while I was writing another story in which the heroine bemoaned that her "Mr. Good Vibrations" vibrator had run out of batteries. Immediately, I thought, "Wow, Good Vibrations would make a great title for an erotic story." So I jotted down the idea, which at that point consisted of the title, the setting--a sex shop (I wanted plenty of vibrators at my heroine's disposal ), and the heroine's name. Then I stuffed the "idea germ" away. Several months later, I'd hit a roadblock with my writing and so decided to pull out all the stops and write my first erotic novella by the seats of my pants, revising and researching along the way. It probably sounds strange to say that a line in another manuscript inspired this novella, but it's not uncommon for me to come up with entire plots based on a title or a first line, which is essentially what happened with "Good Vibrations."

NN: Interesting! I recall doing that one time myself. I love it when a whole story comes from a title. Please tell us about your favorite character in this story and why he/she is your favorite.

KSJ: I'd have to say it's Lexi O'Brien, the heroine, because she isn't afraid to go after what she wants even when she's suffering self-doubts. And she does suffer them. She thinks she's too top-heavy and plain Jane. Now, I personally don't have any experience with being "top-heavy," but when my heroine began complaining about her big boobs, who was I to dissuade her? Like most women, she sees the worst in herself physically, and I found it interesting to write from the vantage point of a character who has such a different life experience than I do. At the same time, although she's practical, she can find humor in almost any situation, which also appeals to me. Plus, she lusts after Gage, who is heaven on legs. So, she's smart.

NN: I can't wait to meet both characters. Which element of this story was hardest for you and why?

KSJ: Researching the police procedural aspect of the plot. When I started writing the story, I had no idea the cops were going to show up mid-way through the story. But there they were, and I had to stop writing merrily along and research what they would say and do. Research is always the stickler for me, because I get lost in it. I can research for days on a minor plot point. I don't know why. It's like I need to learn everything I can about a subject so I can toss 98% of that knowledge out the window and just keep what I need. Luckily, I have a good friend with a retired cop husband, so between the two of them and a call to the police department, I think--hope!--I got the cop scenes right.

NN: What do you wish you'd known before becoming published?

KSJ: That's a hard question to answer, because it took me so long to become published that I haven't really been surprised by anything that's happened to me on the published side of the fence. At least not so far. Remember what I said about research? Well, when I was unpublished, if my intent was to become published, then it made sense to me to learn as much about my craft and the industry as I could. I learned to develop a rhino hide about rejections. I learned to just keep soldiering on. That the only person who could stop me from achieving my writing dreams was myself. That I had to believe in myself even when it felt like only family members and critique partners believed in me--that no one in the publishing industry ever would. I strongly believe that persistence is half the battle in the publishing game, and considering somewhere along the way I forgot how to give up (honestly, I think I just grew too many stupid cells and forgot!!), clearly the belief in persistence helped me. It got to the point where, when I got rejections, my writing friends were more upset than I was. I just became very practical and stubborn about the whole thing. This business isn't for the faint-hearted. Don't give up. Believe in yourself. Strap on blinders and just keep improving your craft. And don't be afraid to try something new.

NN: Fantastic advice!! What's next for you?

KSJ: I have two more novellas coming from Red Sage Secrets! "Exes & Ahhhs" in Secrets Volume 26: Bound by Passion will appear in December 2008, and is about a bakery owner and her silent partner ex-lover. And I just sold "Kiss Me at Midnight," the story of two late-night L.A. talk show co-hosts, for a Secrets volume slated for 2009, although I don't know the month or volume number yet. I'm currently marketing an erotic single title, and I plan to write more erotic novellas in the New Year. I love writing for Secrets, and I hope to have a long and successful career with them. I also publish non-erotic romantic comedies under another name, and my work-in-progress is a single title romantic comedy/mystery I plan to market in the spring. So I'm keeping very busy!

NN: Wow, you are busy! And congratulations on the additional sales!! Thanks again, Kate, for being a guest here! We've enjoyed learning more about you and your stories.

Here is the book trailer video featuring all the stories in Secrets Volume 21, Primal Heat.




Kate's websites: http://www.katestjames.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/katestjames

Get on with the Present—Don’t Live in the Past

Imagine someone telling you a riveting story that’s keeping you on the edge of your seat.

“Go on,” you say, just dying to know what happens next.

But the storyteller says, “But you see, ten years ago…,” and he gives a ten minute discourse on something that happened in the past.

What happens to the avid listener? The storyteller has lost him. The listener is now drawn into the past. Will he be as rabidly entertained? Maybe.

But wait, we have to get back to the present, and the narrator pauses and begins again with the current crisis.

I just finished reading a terrific historical romance—super characterizations, descriptions, plotting, but a couple of times the author pulled me out of the current riveting story to reminisce about past life experiences.

In one of the passages, I was so disoriented by the shift, I had to flip back to where the flashback began to assure myself that it was a flashback. Did it add to the story?

Not for me.

I read a paranormal like that, too, where the story was going along great and then the author stops everything to reminisce about the past. Again in this instance, it didn’t add anything to the story as far as I was concerned. It was filler, boring, and a distraction.

Whenever possible, keep the story moving forward. Sure, it’s fine for the hero to think of the special moments he’d spent with the heroine the night before, or consider the grudge he’s held against his brother for the last hundred years.

But when a flashback turns into actual scenes with dialogue and action, is it really necessary to the story? Does it maybe force the reader out of the story too much? Will you lose some of your readers? Will they forgive you?

Move the story forward. Write in the present. Don’t force your reader to live in the past unless it’s absolutely necessary and adds to the story. Use them sparingly and when you do, don’t make them so long that the reader forgets this is not the current story, but a flashback to the past.

Happy Holidays!

Terry Spear

Heart of the Wolf, April 1, 2008!!!

http://www.myspace.com/terryspear Come join me!!

Ellie Marvel talks about "Heat" in Secrets Volume 22 Dark Whispers

Hi, today we have Ellie Marvel (aka Jody Wallace) with us discussing her latest release, a novella called "Heat" in Red Sage Secrets Volume 22, Dark Whispers, out now.

NN: Welcome Ellie! I'm glad you're here. Please tell us about your story "Heat."

EM: "Heat" is the story of a beta alien male who goes into heat, hence the oh-so-creative title of the story, and has to find a compatible partner before his cycle ends or he'll suffer some pretty permanent consequences. It just so happens that on the mining planet where he lives is a Terran female mineral and ore specialist, a race that is physically compatible with his race. She's a tomboy, but he likes her--a lot. He always has. So he researches Old Terran courting customs and tries his luck with his best friend.

NN: Sounds wonderful! I love those stories where best friends get together. Do you have any reviews for this book?

EM: Sure! Secrets 22: Dark Whispers has been reviewed by Enchanting Reviews, Romantic Times, Romance Reviews Today and The Romance Reader's Connection so far. Specific things folks have said about "Heat" are: "The first story in the Secrets Volume 22 anthology starts with a bang." (Sarah for The Romance Readers Connection) A bang, heh heh heh! I'm so juvenile sometimes. Jane from Romance Reviews Today says, "Heat shows that opposites attract across the universe."

NN: Wow! Great reviews! What inspired you to write this story?

EM: There are a number of erotic stories available about dudes going into heat. Ladies, too. But most of the time the dudes are not -- well, they're not boy-next-door types, are they? They're often kings or dread space pirates or pack chiefs or CEOs or what have you. They're commanding and dark and alpha and about six foot six, bodies rippling with muscle or the onset of their change into werewolf form.

Not that I don't enjoy such stories, but what I enjoy more is variety. All types of people can be fascinating when they're in the throes of passion, and many have a story to tell about how their relationship got off the ground. It's just my job to make it interesting. So I wrote "Heat" about a guy who's not the big kahuna, who's not naturally assertive and oozing the sex appeal. I love to take established erotic romance tropes and twist them around to see what comes out the other side.

NN: Very interesting and unusual. I love variety. Please tell us about your other published works.

EM: As Ellie Marvel, I've got another novella published in Secrets 17 about another beta male -- shock shock -- and his lady friend who prefers dark, dangerous men, so he decides to shake things up. Oh dear, I think I see a pattern! But I also have a couple stories with Amber Quill Press that aren't about beta males and best friends --"Strip-o-Gram" and "Behind the Mask". As Jody Wallace I have a story in an anthology from Zumaya Publishing, "SUM3: The 2006 Zircon Anthology of Speculative Romance", which is a long title for an excellent book.

In novel-length fiction I have a book coming out in January 2008 from Samhain called "A Spell for Susannah", based on the fairy tale "The 12 Dancing Princesses", and I'm in the process of contracting a second novel to them which is a paranormal romance set in Las Vegas. If you want to get a sample of something I wrote, you can check out the Dunvegas anthology by me and my fellow Samhain Paranormal authors here: http://www.carolanivey.com/dunvegas/. It's wonderful because of what it is but also because the PDF is FREE. Yep, a full-length shared world anthology for free!

NN: Ooooh free? What could be better? Must check it out. What do you wish you'd known before becoming published?

EM: I can't say -- maybe I haven't been published long enough to learn it yet! Ok, I'll try again. I wish I'd have tried short fiction earlier in my career because it can be very liberating. The sense of accomplishment I get when I actually finish something is invaluable to my morale. Right now I'm a slow writer. I stay at home with my young children who are the same as most young children--time sinks. So light at the end of the writing goal tunnels is pretty important to keep me motivated and confident.

NN: You're right, short fiction is really liberating. Thanks again for being here today, Ellie! To finish, do you have a question for blog readers?

EM: Yes. What breaths of fresh air might you like to see in the romance genre? What themes/topics/etc. do you think have grown stale?

Jody W. w/a Ellie Marvel

Secrets 17 (12/06) & Secrets 22 (12/07)

http://www.elliemarvel.com * http://meankittybox.blogspot.com

Excerpt from Winning the Highlander's Heart

5 Angels!!! (FAR)
5 Beacons!!! (Lighthouse Literary Reviews)
5 Hearts!!! (Romance Studio)
4.5!!! (Romance Junkies) Winning the Highlander's Heart

ISBN: 0-9785368-3-5

Deceit, Intrigue, Romance in Medieval Scotland and England during the reign of King Henry I.

Determined to avoid King Henry I's randy advances, Lady Anice of Brecken attempts escape, wishing to find a Highlander to escort her home to her castle in Glen Affric where she will rule until she can find a laird worthy of her hand. Laird Malcolm MacNeill desires an English bride to improve his standing with those in power. But rescuing the Scottish lass from an escape attempt casts him into deadly political intrigue when the king sends Malcolm and his brothers to escort the lady home and investigate the disappearance of some of her staff. Now he must protect the king's ward without losing his heart to the willful lass, or he could very well earn His Majesty's wrath...and lose far more.

Excerpt from Winning the Highlander's Heart:

Later, the sound of men’s voices stirred him from his ragged sleep. For a moment, he lay muddle-headed trying to discern what it was he’d heard. Was it his brothers? Then they spoke again. He quickly sat up. ‘Twas not his brothers’ voices. Instantly, his body went on high alert.

Was it the owner of the croft then? If so, would he be angry to find they’d used his dry wood for the fire and used his blankets, too?

Malcolm covered Anice’s face with the blanket, then grabbed his damp trewes and shoved them on, when four men stepped out of the byre into the house.

They appeared to be knights, not a farmer and his family, bearded, wet, and bedraggled. The situation couldn’t be worse. “How now,” Malcolm said in greeting, but edged in the direction of his sword.

“We got caught in this storm and beg your charity, good man,” a black-haired man said, his voice dark, but attempting cheerfulness, his blue eyes icy. He pulled off his rain-soaked cloak, handed it to a stockier man, then glanced at the body buried underneath the blanket.

“Aye, there is a fire here to warm ye.” Malcolm motioned to the hearth, trying to be cordial, though he felt less than charitable if these were some of the baron’s men.

The other three men began to pull off their wet clothes, hanging them around the room to dry.

The first said, “If those are your horses in the byre, methinks you are not the owner of this farm.”

“Aye, the owner was not here when my wife and I came upon the place in the storm.”

“Wife?” The man’s thin lips turned up slightly, but his eyes remained hard. He cast another glance at Anice. “I am Baron Harold de Fountenot. You must be a knight to own such a fine horse, and the lady a daughter of a knight, perchance?”

Malcolm’s heartbeat pounded fiercely to hear that this was the very baron who wished to marry Anice. “Aye, Laird MacNeill.” But he couldn’t give away Anices’s identity. If they knew who she was, they’d kill him, just as they’d planned to do using their mercenaries earlier on their travels.

“We will take the place by the hearth,” the baron said, stripping out of his clothes.

The baron was shaking, undoubtedly cold to the bone like he and Anice had been. Too bad he wouldn’t die from a chill. Mayhap he would still. “My wife is still sick from the chill she had taken.”

The baron’s mouth turned up. “Then I will warm her. ‘Tis the only way, do you not agree?”

Malcolm grabbed his claymore. He would kill all of them if any laid a hand on Anice.

The men were half naked and trembling from the cold so hard, he assumed he could easily kill all three of them. A part of him wanted to, to protect Anice from this murderer. But how would he explain his actions to the king if he should act on his feelings? That he had killed the king’s first choice of a husband for Anice because the baron had found them bedded together naked?

Tucked Underneath the Christmas Tree

Each year I celebrate Christmas, I rely less and less on the gift-giving aspect and more on the true meaning and majesty of the holiday. But as a child, I marveled at the presents tucked underneath my parents’ Christmas tree. After Thanksgiving, never before, our town hosted a lovely seasonal parade complete with marching bands, festive floats, prancing horses and a host of other lively participants. Mom or Grandma would go in search of the man selling balloons and purchase me one of the pretty helium-filled toys in the shape of a Christmas character. Bundled in boots, the wool or down-filled coat, scarf and mittens, I’d stand with my mom, dad, grandma, and aunt while watching the parade. Once Santa’s float passed, they’d take me to the place on or near the town’s square where Santa Claus held camp in his holiday house. Granted, I cried a couple years at being placed on his lap, but I always managed to convey a partial list of the toys on my wish list. Santa’s house also had a mail slot where we children could slip our letters to him and never have to worry about them getting lost in the seasonal shuffle. Of course, I’d count down the days until he was poised to make a trip down the chimney.

On Christmas Eve, usually sometime around eight in the evening, my parents would warn they heard sleigh bells in the distance and that it would be wise for me to head off to bed so he wouldn’t pass by our house. I’d enjoy a story read or told by Mom or Dad and then crawl under the covers. Sleep usually eluded me, but when the dreams came they often brought any number of happy images, and I later jotted them in my diary. Twinkling lights and tinsel on the family tree. The plates filled with various kinds of cookies Santa hadn’t sampled. Ice-cold glasses of milk for all. And you all have likely guessed I was up and about before dawn on Christmas day. I’d tiptoe into the living room and admire the stockings hanging from the mantel or dangling from the fireplace-iron stand. Somehow Mom always heard my first footsteps and appeared before I had a chance to shake any of the stockings’ contents to figure out what they contained prior to ripping off the wrapping paper. She’d carry the stockings over to the couch, turn on the Christmas tree lights and start perking the Christmas-morning coffee for Dad and herself. By this time, Dad was stirring and turning on more lights throughout the living room.


Photos from those Christmases past fill the family’s albums and make for wonderful journeys to the past on occasion. I have vivid memories of many of the presents Santa delivered, but my all-time favorite was my first bicycle. A gleaming cherry-red Schwinn with a cute basket between the handlebars and training wheels. My five-year-old heart filled with joy, and I had a hard time waiting until the sun came out to take a couple short turns around the driveway with my new bike. Then it was off to Grandma’s house for more fun, good cheer and Christmas dinner. Such was the wonderment of youth.

As snowflakes fly outside the den window, I wish you all the best and brightest for the holidays and beyond. Share with me your favorite Christmas present, whether or not it fit under the family Christmas tree.

Season’s greetings and steamy readings,

Shawna Moore http://www.grant-moore.com
ROUGHRIDER – Ellora’s Cave
HELLE IN HEELS – Ellora’s Cave

Rejection after Rejection after Rejection

Rejection after Rejection after Rejection

How do you handle that first rejection and then all the others that follow after that?

Sometimes, champagne, chocolate, and a good cry help, but I’d be a blurry-eyed, six-hundred pound alcoholic at that rate.

So what else works?

How do you hold your head up high and send that rejected, maybe revised, manuscript back out there? And how do you get the courage to write another manuscript and another one after that, that may only have the same success as the first?

Perseverance is the key.

Think of a ship’s captain battling the enemy. His motto: Don’t give up the ship.

And we shouldn’t either...not if we feel as he does. Our cause is worthy. Right? Our writing is worthy. Correct? We want to be heard. So we persevere.

Rarely does anyone get published the first time they submit a manuscript. Sure it happens...but rarely. So we have to expect rejection. Write the best we can, perfect our craft, but accept that not all of our work will be lavishly praised by editors, clamoring to get their greedy hands on it.

So if drowning our sorrows with alcohol, chocolate, and tears doesn’t work, what else is there?

Research the market, find another place to send that manuscript and shoot it out there again. In the meantime, get to work on another manuscript, which should have been started after the last one was finished. Polish it up and send it out.

It’s easier to handle a rejection when you still have queries for other manuscripts out there.

What about a support group? Your husband, kids, parents, goldfish don’t understand you? Join a writer’s group or several. I have lots of critique partners and belong to a number of writing groups. When I feel down, I let some of them know. And guess what? They understand. They’ve been there, done that. But what’s best is they remind me of all the other famous authors who got rejected and rejected and rejected, too.

So what was their key to success? Did they quit? Did they give up the ship?

They persevered.

Form letter rejections are the worst. You haven’t any idea why they didn’t like this great story you pitched to them. I found out after the fact one publisher didn’t like espionage stories. Now if I’d found this obscure news before I sent my manuscript, I’d have saved myself a form letter rejection. Form letter rejections make you guess at why your story didn’t fit for them.

Then comes the self-doubting. My writing is so lousy all they can do is send me a form letter rejection. It doesn’t matter that the letter states you’re receiving it because there are so many submissions that’s all they can manage, or heaven forbid, close the door to unagented submissions. You just know your work is unloved.

There’s not a whole lot you can do about form letter rejections except keep them in a file so you don’t pitch the same story to the same editor by mistake and get another one of those form letter rejections. Or gloat over them when you’ve sold that “unsaleable” manuscript.

What about the personalized rejection? Now this is much better. Someone has taken the time to actually read your work and let you know why it doesn’t work for them. You can write the editor and ask if they’d like to see revisions based on their suggestions. They can say no, and thereby you receive another rejection, deepening the wound, or they can say yes and you revise your heart out. Again, you’re faced with the possibility of another rejection. Is it worth it? Sure. What if by some slim chance the revisions work and now in that editor’s eye, your work is saleable? You’ve got a contract.

Again, perseverance is the key.

It’s not to say there are days when the rejections just seem to pile up and take their toll on your sanity. One day I received a request for a full. For three days after that, I received rejections for other manuscripts. But that one request for a full made all the difference in the world to me. I could handle the rejections for a while. But the big blow came when the two fulls I had at one office both came back rejected from an editor who says she liked my writing style. So if I can’t get published by an editor who likes my writing, how can I get published by editors who won’t even bother to look at my writing?

Perseverance.

Another editor said I had come so close to writing just what she wanted in two different manuscripts. Tell me what you want and I’ll make it perfect!

One day I received a call from Deb Werksman, Sourcebooks. She wanted to know if my HEART OF THE WOLF sold. No, not yet. Was the world I created unique? My first thought was—ack! She thinks it’s too farfetched. But yes, it is unique. She said she loved the premise and the characters, that she was a good way through the book, but she hadn’t finished reading it. Heart sinking, she hadn’t read the rest of the book. What if she hated it?

She called a couple of days later and loved it, but...

You notice how we have cliff hangers along the way even when we get THE CALL? First, we wait forever to get this call. Then the editor hasn’t finished reading the book so I still don’t know if she’ll like the book enough to want to buy it. Then she loves it... but, now she has to pitch it before a board. Will the board love it as much as Deb does?

Everything is crossed that they do!

A week passed. I thought, nope, they didn’t like it. I’d come sooo close. And then a couple of days later Deb calls. It’s got to be good. Otherwise she’d probably just send an email, right? Yep, she wanted the book. THEY wanted the book. This was THE CALL.

And now, HEART OF THE WOLF will be coming out on April 1, 2008... no April Fool’s!

No matter what, keep writing, revising, and submitting.

Shove those doubts out of the gray matter, think positively, research a different line, but whatever you do, keep sending those great works of art in and one of these days that SASE won’t be returned. You’ll get “The Call” instead.

Terry Spear
myspace.com/terryspear
Winning the Highlander's Heart, 5 Angels! 5 Beacons! 5 Hearts! 5 Ribbons!
The Vampire...In My Dreams, 5 Angels! 5+ Stars! 4.5 Ribbons!
Heart of the Wolf, Coming April 1, 2008