The grand prize winner of the bloghop is…

Congrats to Yadira on winning the Nook color grand prize!

I hope everyone got what they wanted this holiday season (and throughout the year), and I wish everyone a happy new year.

It’s Raining Raine Delight!

LTR: Welcome to the blog. We all want to know what’s going on right now with your writing career. What’s simmering in the pot, and what have you recently finished.

RD: Hi AJ and thanks for letting me drop by here. I am currently finishing up edits for my December release, Moonlight and Magic and also finishing up a rough draft of my first MM novella, A Cowboy’s Christmas. Then of course I have a new trilogy begging me for attention plus a few other projects to deal with. My muse is never quiet lately. *sighs*

LTR: I’m sure there are many of us who wish our muses would not shut up!

If you could date one of the heroes in your books, which would it be? What features make you like him the most?

RD: Oh man, right now I am enthralled with my space pirates, Capt. Rafe Gregory and his first mate and lover Tyrese. Both these guys are alpha males and sexy. I can’t choose between them so can I have both…pretty please? *grins*

LTR: OK, if you have to have both, just let me watch!  :)

Can you give us an excerpt from one of your books?

RD: Sure, this is an adult excerpt of my upcoming release, Moonlight and Magic, a brand new Devon Falls story. It tells a story of a lonely white tiger shifter who finds the meaning behind ‘Home is where the heart is’.

Can a were-tiger convince one stubborn woman that she is his for all time and show her that falling in love is just as sinful as a chocolate kiss?Michael Barnes is a rare white were-tiger and is tired of roaming around the world, alone. Meeting his destined mate was unexpected as well. Dixie Sinclair was fun, sexy and everything he feels he doesn’t deserve. The past has a way of coloring a person’s life and it’s up to Michael to show Dixie that he is the one to hold her heart.

Adult excerpt

With a sigh, she finished her drink and stared out into the night, wishing she was elsewhere when a man stood behind her that had her gasping in surprise. Before she could turn around, she felt him come up behind her, his arms on her waist with a steel grip as his breath tickled her neck. She shuddered as she tried not to cream her panties right then and there. He was masked and from what she could see in the window reflection, tall and everything screamed inside ‘DANGER’. He was an alpha and how she knew that she didn’t know but as her gaze caught his, her pussy spasmed with a need that had her wanting more.

He leaned down and then she shuddered as his lips teased her ear, his breath hot against her skin. Closing her eyes she tried to keep her balance while trying to keep a moan from coming out. A lick against her neck had her gasping , and she leaned against him, or tried to, anyway. His hands held her in place as the man played with her ear and teased her with soft licks against her skin.

“I want you, Dixie and I plan to have you…tonight.” The huskiness of his voice had her trembling as she tried to stop the soft moan that passed through her lips. Her pussy gushed more at his words and the excitement that raced through her had her on edge.

Without another word, he turned her around and smiled a sinfully wicked smile that left her breathless. Need raged hot inside her and before she could think clearly, she pulled his head down and kissed him hard. Slipping her tongue inside his mouth, she dueled with his as she pressed herself against the hard male body and felt her body awaken even more. Her desires that she used to have such a tight control on raged uncheck through her, and she didn’t give a damn who saw them at that moment. She wanted this man, and
she was going to take him-damn the consequences.

Before she could breathe, the kiss ended. Both of them breathing heavily and before she could ask his name, he lead her from her corner and into the crowd of people. Before she could blink, they were outside, and he just looked at her, making heat pool in her belly.

“Where can we go, Dixie, where we won’t be disturbed?” His voice was so sinful it had her shuddering as her desires flared inside her.

“My…my house.” She said as she swallowed, trying to work her dry throat. “We should be fine there.”

Before she could blink, he picked her up and walked over to the truck on the side of the Inn. With a growl and a short, hard kiss, he put her in the passenger seat and shut the door. After climbing in, he gunned the engine and roared off. Dixie trying to make sense of everything that has happened in the last few minutes when he ripped the mask off his face and looked at her, his eyes blazing yellow with passion and need. The way he looked, it was like a predator came out to play and had her in his sights.

Before she could blink, they pulled up in her driveway. When the engine turned off, Dixie had no idea what would happen next. She rubbed her arms and prayed to god she wasn’t about to make a mistake. Watching Michael, she tried to calm her raging body and bring calmness to her but the lust that drove her wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon. It had her in its grip and wasn’t about to loosen the ties on her at this moment.

“You do know once we go into the house, I’m going to have you, and I’m not going to stop. You had better tell me no now, before things get carried away and I get you naked.” Michael said as she watched his hands grip the steering wheel hard till his knuckles turned white.

“Take me inside, Michael.” Dixie swallowed hard at the way his eyes flared bright yellow and then faded to the silvery-blue she was beginning to enjoy seeing. As she opened her door, she glanced back at the one man who had the power to turn her world into chaos and knew there was no turning back now.

LTR: I’m a huge shifter lover. The only thing that comes behind it, vampires. I’m excited about your book.

This is an age old question that every author has to answer about 20,000 times. What got you into writing, and how old were you?

RD: I actually was dared by an author friend who heard me yelling about too stupid to live characters and tired plot lines. I took her dare and after a few drafts, Devon Falls series was born. It’s been 7 years and I still love creating new stories.

LTR: I wonder what else I can get you to do if I dare you…**evil thoughts**

If you couldn’t be a writer, what would you do with your life?

RD: I would love to work in one of the big seven publishing houses. All that talent *sighs* or as a chef. I used to work in the restaurant field until I burnt myself out working 50+ hours.

LTR: 50+ hours. ICK! I don’t think I would be able to do that. Though I would love to be a chef. I’m addicted t the reality shows on The Food Network. Shh, don’t tell anyone.

Do you have a day job that interferes with your ‘real life’ as an author?

RD: Oh yes, I work a day job under my real name so it tends to be quite hectic some days. I try to write an hour a day or more on weekends.

LTR: Only an hour a day, how do you accomplish what you do? I’m impressed to no end.

Tell us something unique about yourself that we don’t know.

RD: Well, when I was younger I lived through over a dozen surgeries from ages 13 to when I was 20 due to cervical spine cancer. I have been cancer free for almost 15 years so I take every day as it was my last.

LTR: Oh wow, congrats on your 15 years. That must have been hard to live with when you were that young. You are a true survivor. 

Bacon or ham?

RD: Give me bacon anytime.

LTR: A woman after my own heart. Mmmm, bacon.

Chocolate or Jelly Beans?

RD: Sacriledge *gasps* Chocolate all t he way…White and milk chocolate.

LTR: You can have all the white chocolate you want, I’ll take the milk chocolate. Everyone in my house thinks I like dark chocolate since I eat it. I’d rather have milk.

Now that we’ve gotten to know you, we need to know where to find you so we can stalk, I mean visit you.

RD: Please stalk away *laughs*

Website: http://authorrainedelight.com

Raine’s Blog: http://authorrainedelight.wordpress.com

Author/Reader Loop: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Author_Raine_Delight

Email me: rainedelight@yahoo.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorRaine-Delight

Secret Cravings Publishing: http://www.secretcravingspublishing.com

5 Great Lines from Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones’s Diary

5 Great Lines from Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones’s Diary

1

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.”

2

“I will not fall for any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, commitment phobics, people with girlfriends or wives, misogynists, megalomanics, chauvists, emotional f@ckwits or freeloaders, perverts.”

3

“Being a woman is worse than being a farmer. There is so much harvesting and crop spraying to be done: legs to be waxed, underarms shaved, eyebrows plucked, feet pumiced, skin exfoliated and moisturized, spots cleansed, roots dyed, eyelashes tinted, nails filed, cellulite massaged, stomach muscles exercised. The whole performance is so highly tuned you only need to neglect it for a few days for the whole thing to go to seed. Sometimes I wonder what I would be like if left to revert to nature — with a full beard and handlebar moustache on each shin, Dennis Healey eyebrows, face a graveyard of dead skin cells, spots erupting, long curly fingernails like Struwelpeter, blind as bat and stupid runt of species as no contact lenses, flabby body flobbering around. Ugh ugh. Is it any wonder girls have no confidence”

4

“Can officially confirm that the way to a man’s heart these days is not through beauty, food, sex, or alluringness of character, but merely the ability to seem not very interested in him.”

5

“Come on, let’s get you a drink. How’s your love life, anyway?”

Oh God. Why can’t married people understand that this is no longer a polite question to ask? We wouldn’t rush up to them and roar, “How’s your marriage going? Still have sex?”

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.
Look for my newest release- A Surprising Day – on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.

And the bloghop winner is…

June M. won the two ebooks. June, please watch for my email to confirm and collect your prize.
Stay tuned for the winner of the Nook Color. I will post the winner’s name as soon as the winner is picked by the bloghop host.

Run-On Sentences or Please Take a Breath

By Kay Springsteen

Are you sick of the 24/7 Christmas songs you’ve heard for the past month or so? Kind of glad your radio station went back to regular air play?  Well, just in case you want a fond memory of a Christmas song, do you recognize this one?

Hark! how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say,
“Throw cares away.”
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold
Have you ever listened to this song and wanted to yell, “Take a breath already!” Punctuation in our writing is the reader’s way of taking a breath regardless of whether we’re reading out loud or silently. Some pauses for breath are longer than others, more definitive. These pauses are what sets up the rhythm of what we’ve written so the reader can read it in the manner we imagined it being said.

For this reason, in fiction, we often use periods for full-stop emphasis on sentence fragments. Used sparingly, a sentence fragment brings desired attention to a thought or action. Consider this brief excerpt from my novel Heartsight:

Sounds filtered through first: the rhythmic squeak of a cart being wheeled through the hallway, the low trill of a telephone at the desk just beyond the door. The shrill ding of an alarm warned that an IV needed attention. The beep-beep of a telemetry machine signaled his heart still beat steadily. Muffled voices hovered at the edge of his awareness; people speaking in hushed whispers, as if afraid they would wake the sick and the dying.

Or the blind.

In this passage, I not only separated the fragment from the previous sentence, I separated it from the entire paragraph. I used these three words in the sentence fragment to give readers the cue that my hero was blind. I could have as easily stated it in a full sentence:  Perhaps they were afraid of disturbing the blind. But at the time, my writing voice dictated the use of a fragment for this announcement. I wouldn’t want to read an entire book of passages with such construction, but fragments do have their uses.

Run-on sentences, on the other hand, hardly ever have a justifiable use unless it is in dialogue and something that builds characterization. An excited child, for example might run on and on and on to the point where he or she is advised to breathe. But for the purposes of introspection, description, or action narration, a run on sentence will only serve to give your readers one of those “What-the…” moments.

A run-on or fused sentence, more formally known as a comma splice, is an attempt to connect two or more independent clauses with the use of a comma instead of a period, a semi-colon, or a coordinating conjunction. Such sentences usually occur when we think of two ideas that are closely related and string them into one sentence because to us they are one thought. Most people don’t think with correct grammar. Our mind inserts the appropriate pauses as we think. And because we’re the ones doing the thinking, we don’t need the visual cues of punctuation to give us the rhythm and pattern of the sentences making up our thoughts.

However, as writers, it is up to us to ensure a smooth read. You wouldn’t expect to pick up a book with the words all strung together with no punctuation or paragraphs. It wouldn’t make sense:

the yellow dog ran into the room and laid on the mat by the heater he began licking the snow from his paws charlie said mom you have to have your feet wiped before you walk on my nice clean floor the door opened and my brother ben walked in and flopped in the kitchen chair little globs of snow slid from his boots to form puddles around his feet on the floor

You get the idea. While we can probably figure it out, because of punctuation, we don’t have to. As authors, we have to pay attention to the rhythm of our writing so we can insert the appropriate visual cues for the reader. So it’s important to understand what makes up a clause, what makes a clause independent from another, what makes one dependent on another, and the best way to separate the independent clauses from one another.

An independent clause is made up of a group of words containing a subject and a verb, and expresses a complete thought: Jenny read a book in the library.

A dependent clause is made up of a group of words containing a subject and a verb but by itself does not express a complete thought. This is a sentence fragment (see above for their use). A dependent clause is frequently signaled by a dependent marker word. When Jenny read a book in the library…(The thought is incomplete. What happened when she read in the library?)

An independent marker word is a connecting word used at the beginning of an independent clause, such as also, consequently, furthermore, however, moreover, nevertheless, and therefore. These words can always begin a sentence that can stand alone. If one of these words begins the clause (subject + verb = complete thought), you have a stand-alone, or independent clause, and a period or a semi-colon must precede the clause.

Now that you have an understanding of dependent versus independent, consider the following sentence.

Last summer was dry, therefore many of my garden flowers died.

Note the independent marker in the sentence? This is a signal that these are two separate clauses, and thus this is a run-on sentence. There are several easy fixes for this:

1. Separate it into two sentences with the independent marker in place: Last summer was dry. Therefore, many of my garden flowers died.
2. Separate it into two sentences without the independent marker in place: Last summer was dry. Many of my garden flowers died.
3. Use a semi-colon to separate the two clauses: Last summer was dry; therefore, many of my garden flowers died.
4. Rephrase using a coordinating conjunction*: Last summer was dry, so many of my garden flowers died.
5. Make the first half of the sentence a subordinate clause: Because last summer was dry, many of my garden flowers died.

For the sake of altering the rhythm and helping the story flow in a logical manner, it’s best to try to change these methods up when repairing comma-splice sentences.

* The seven coordinating conjunctions used as connecting words at the beginning of an independent clause are and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet. A comma is needed before the coordinating conjunction when sentences are constructed in this fashion.

It is best to use method #5 above with great care. Many authors who have attempted this method of sentence construction run into trouble with misplaced modifiers. Watch for a future article on that particular bane of the writer’s and editor’s existence.

Now, speaking as your potential editor, does anybody here wish you’d paid more attention to Schoolhouse Rock? “Conjunction Junction, what’s your function…?”

What’s Up With Dana Littlejohn?

LTR: Welcome to the blog. We all want to know what’s going on right now with your writing career. What’s simmering in the pot, and what have you recently finished.

DL: I just finished and submitted a 2 book series on the African goddess of the sun and her sister the goddess of the moon. I haven’t heard anything back yet on those.

LTR: Oooo, I love books like that!

Two books just released: Releasing the Baggage (Secret Craving) and Seven Year Switch (Muse it Hot).
I have a new Christmas release; Christmas Goddess (available now).
New releases for the first part of 2012: A Valentine’s story; Cupid’s Target. A peek into the lives of a naughty married couple; Home with the Jones (Secret Cravings). Books 3 and 4 in my Erotes series (those are Aphrodite’s children) book 3; Charles Goddess and book 4; Alan’s Arrival. (Muse it Hot)

LTR: How in the world do you find time to do it all? You make me tired.

If you could date one of the heroes in your books, which would it be? What features make you like him the most?

DL: That’s a hard question. All my leading men look good to me. LOL I think if I had to choose it would be Bryce Turner (Christmas Goddess). Not only is he FINE I love his way thinking when it comes to his women. What’s that you say? You’ll just have to get the book.

LTR: Oh, that’s no fair. Thanks for adding to my TBR pile. I’m waiting for it to fall on me and I’ll suffocate. (It’s the life of a book hoarder!)

Can you give us an excerpt from one of your books?

DL: Absolutely! This is from Releasing the Baggage.

Right on time, Felix was at her door and they drove downtown to Club Calientè on the Canal. The music was loud and boisterous and the people looked happy, obviously having a great time. Felix took her by the hand and led her inside. They sat at a table near the dance floor and ordered their drinks. Jerri watched the people dancing for the first few songs, shaking her head.

“I don’t know, Felix. The dance looks pretty complicated. I don’t think I can do all that.”

He smiled dancing in his chair. “Sure you can. You just move your body to the music.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, well, that’s easier said than done.”

“Come on, we came to dance, so let’s dance.”

“Huh…”

“Don’t worry. I will show you. This song is about to end.”

She put her glass down and let him pull her to the floor just as the song ended and another slower tempo began.

“Ahh, yes, this is the perfect song to learn from. All you have to do is move back and forth. Follow my feet.”

“Okay,” she said, feeling a little unsure.

Felix took her hands so she would face him. When he stepped back he encouraged her to step forward with the same foot. Jerri followed movements, trampling his feet in the process, but by the end of the song, she had the basic footwork down.

“You did well. Now for the next one don’t be so stiff. Move your hips like this.”

He grabbed her hips giving them a twisting turn. She picked up the rhythm and took over moving them.

“Yes, yes, but more fluid. Think of lovemaking and the music is your lover. You want to move in sync with it and sway gracefully with your lover, together as one.”

She swallowed her laughter.

No wonder I can’t get this dance. If he knew how long it’s been since I had sex, he’d understand.

LTR: I have two left feet, maybe he needs to teach me how to dance. I wouldn’t mind!

This is an age old question that every author has to answer about 20,000 times. What got you into writing, and how old were you?

DL: As far back as I can remember I have always wanted to write. I was that kid that said when I grow up I want to be a writer. I wrote first stories in junior high school.

LTR: I started writing when I was in Jr. High too. Seems like a good time to get the brain working.

If you couldn’t be a writer, what would you do with your life?

DL: The other thing I wanted to do was work in a lab. I got into biology in high school and thought it was cool so decided I wanted to do that. Now I do!

LTR: Me and science never got along, so I’ll let all the lab work to you!

Do you have a day job that interferes with your ‘real life’ as an author?

DL: Yes. I work in a lab in a doctor’s office, but I have time between patients to let my brain runa much with ideas. LOL

My brain tends to run amuck all the time.

Tell us something unique about yourself that we don’t know.

DL: Hmm, I think after so many interviews my fans may know a little too much already. LOL

LTR: Way to skirt the question. 

Bacon or ham?

DL: Ham!

LTR: I like ham and pineapple pizza!

Chocolate or Jelly Beans?

DL: CHOCOLATE!

LTR: Now that we’ve gotten to know you, we need to know where to find you so we can stalk, I mean visit you.

DL: Sure!
my website: www.danalittlejohn.net
my blog: www.authordanalittlejohn.blogspot.com
facebook fanpage under: www.facebook.com/authordanalittlejhn
and you can find me on Twitter as well: www.twitter.com/authordnalittlejohn

Thanks for having me. This was fun!

Tech Saavy

I found a new web page. It’s for tech nerds. Ah! Didn’t catch your attention?

Tech is for everyone, a problem. I have a laptop, a netbook, I need a new cell phone, dvd player and a tape recorder. All tools of the trade. For those who use a tape recorder like moi its a recorder of story ideas. My pad next to my bed fills up to much to fast. I use it to record story ideas. I have two one I bought another I got for either my birthday or Christmas. My netbook was given as a gift because my laptop broke. And my cell phone too was a gift until I turned it off because I couldn’t pay. My dvd player was a gift for my birthday or Christmas. All of which I have used to help me with my writing. You can use them and others too.

But what do you think is the best of your tools of the trade? I like both the tape recorder and the pad. When I am out I can use both, instead of napkins. When I travel, I can use the netbook instead of my laptop because its portable.

So weigh in guys on the conversation. What are your tools of the trade that help you write- maybe leave a comment or oomments on same.

NaNoMo: A Writing Experience

I joined a group for NaNoMo. There are about seven writers in this group now started by a highschool friend, with whom I have recently gotten back in touch with via the internet and a blog webpage.

Our goal as writers is to work on a work we are doing and getting critiques back. I have participated before but have no recently. My problem is discipline. When I started out writing I wrote with this writing schedule:

Monday through Friday by 6 clothes washing; 7 morning coffee; 8 shower/start clothes washing; 9 to 12 writing; 1 to 4 lunch/break; 7 on doing anything I want including writing.

Saturday through Sunday Write/errands/clean.

And I stuck to it for a while. Then I moved and it was hard for me to maintain. So I will try again. But for those who write and are in the process of writing their novel first or otherwise, I issue a challenge to those who like to write. For one month in November if you can but pick another month if you have to; pick a word amount to write per week, per day, per hour and see if you stick to it.

A quick hello to wish everyone a very happy Holiday Season!

Hello fellow bloggers and LTR readers! I just wanted to take a breather, : ) and wish everyone a very happy Holiday(s) and a very safe, prosperous New Year.

So the holidays are here and it feels summer barely ended and school just started! At least it does for me. 2012 is just around the corner and I have a ton of catch up writing to do.  I have more books planned for release in the beginning of the year. Plus a few new surprises.

My book Personal Touch will be release by Silver publishing in March, 2012. I’m excited about working with this publisher.

Well enough updates on Emma Paul… ; )

I’ll be back next Wednesday with something more interesting to say!

Promise!

Until then, happy holidays and happy reading!

Emma

 

Guest post – Karen Frisch

Please help me welcome back Karen Frisch, author of What’s In A Name.

What Makes a Good Heroine?
by Karen Frisch

Modern romance novel heroines would never recognize the women who went before them. Heroines today take life by the throat, still feminine but often also savvy and sassy. A big change from the damsels in distress of only a few decades back.
Then why do my heroines always seem to start out wimpy? Perhaps it stems from the girls’ literature available to those of us who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s. The heroines in the books I read as a teenager were the passive sort,victims rather than victors. They were refined and demure and waited for the hero to come to their defense, even when their lives were in danger. The character type was the basis for heroines in novels by Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt that I devoured, and I loved every whisper of suspense.
Who could forget Maxim de Winter’s second wife in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca?We cringe with sympathy for the unnamed first-person narrator who is the unfortunate new Mrs. de Winter. As a wife, she is an utter failure compared to the first Mrs. de Winter, according to Manderley’s manipulative housekeeper, the unforgettably intimidating Mrs. Danvers. It isn’t until the narrator learns the unexpected truth that she finds the courage to speak.
Flash forward to 2011. The modern heroine is the other extreme, one who doesn’t hesitate to fight back. Instead of waiting, she reacts, prepared to deal with whatever consequences follow. Look at Alicia Ponte, the heroine in Sharon Sala’s The Warrior. Once she knows the extent of her father’s evil and realizes he sells weapons to al Qaeda, she takes steps to bring him to justice even though it jeopardizes her own life and that of her lover.
Whether wimpy or warrior, it poses a challenge for the historical novelist, whose heroines must answer to the age in which they’re raised while answering to the needs of the author.While experimenting with heroines, I found my answer somewhere in between. When my Regency Lady Delphinia’s Deception opens, the main character is vulnerable to blackmail because of her past. With the arrival of the hero, her weakness becomes her strength as she finds a way to take charge of her future by turning the tables on her blackmailer.
Juliet Halliday, the heroine of my newest book, What’s in a Name, has to defy convention to realize her dream of giving her orphaned nephew the environment he needs to thrive. On top of that, she must keep her father happy while finding a way to be with the man she loves, an Italian immigrant—not the husband a Shakespeare professor would choose for his daughter. As I fought through Juliet’s struggles, I discovered(to my surprise) a complex heroine who learns how to handle her problems with integrity and emerges victorious.
So what makes a good heroine? Is it one like Joan Wilder in the movie Romancing the Stone,who leaves her quiet life in New York City for the jungles of Colombia armed only with a treasure map, hoping to rescue her kidnapped sister? Is it Etta Place in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, torn between two men and willing to risk her freedom to follow them to Bolivia? Or is it someone altogether different?
I’d love to know your thoughts. Leave a comment, and one reader who shares what’s on her mind will win a copy of What’s in a Name!

Karen Frisch is the author of What’s in a Name, a December release from Avalon Books, in which a professor’s daughter and a fish market owner must overcome their differences to give two young runaway relatives a home–but first they must find the children. Her novella “A Delicate Footing” is now available in ImaJinn Books’ Christmas anthology A Regency Yuletide. She is also the author of Lady Delphinia’s Deception, a Regency from ImaJinn, and Murder Most Civil, a Victorian mystery from Mainly Murder Press that features an appearance by Henry David Thoreau.

—-
Thanks for visiting us here at Let’s Talk Romance.
—-

April Dawn
Author of Crushing Desire and Bound By Love

Guest post – Anna James

Please help me welcome Anna James, author of Shattered Dreams.

Hi Everyone,

Happy Sunday! My name is Anna James and I write contemporary stories that allow people to take a break from everyday life and get lost in a world filled with passion, drama and, of course, ROMANCE! I have been writing romance stories for more than twelve years now but have only recently been published (July 2010). During the last seventeen months I have gained substantial insight into the world of publishing and what it takes to succeed as a writer. There’s so much more to it than just writing.

So you’ve received that coveted contract. What’s next you ask? As a new writer I assumed that once I got the contract my work was pretty much done and I couldmove on to writing my next story. Boy was I wrong!!!! There are edits to be done; covers to be designed; copyrights to be filed just to name a few. And, the biggest shock of all… you need to promote your book. This was the biggest puzzle for me. I had no idea where to start. Luckily, I received some good tips from my editor. I’d like to share a few of them with you to get you started on your way to success.
Get your name out there:
1.) If you haven’t already done so, create a blog and / or website. I used WordPress (www.wordpress.com) to create my blog (http://annajames1.wordpress.com/)but there are other sites out there as well like BlogSpot (www.blogspot.com). WordPressis free (for the basic version) and I believe BlogSpot is as well.
2.) Set up an author page on the social media sites. You can check out my page on Facebook as an example: Anna James – Author of Contemporary Romance Novels (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anna-James-Author-of-Contemporary-Romance-Novels/129394040447020)
3.) Set up author pages on sites like Manic Readers (www.manicreaders.com) and Good Reads (www.goodreads.com). Add your book information and keep it updated.
Get the word out on your book:
1.) Once you receive the final copy send it out for review. Here are some sites you can contact to request a review for your book. Make sure to read the submission guidelines carefully. Many can be specific on who can request a review as well as the genres they accept.
• Coffee Time Romance (http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/)
• Manic Readers (www.manicreaders.com) This site actually lets you request a review from as many as 18 review sites at once (depending on your genre and heat level)
• The Romance Reviews (http://www.theromancereviews.com/)
• Happily Ever After Reviews (http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/)
• Pillow Talk Reviews (http://pillowtalkreview.blogspot.com/)
You can search for more review sites on the web. Remember you need more than just one review. You want to create a buzz about your work.
2.) Join Yahoo groups and post to promote your book. Remember to read the guide lines and only post on the days when it’s allowed. Here are the names of a few Yahoo groups I belong to(I am a member of more than 30!):
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookCravers/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chatting_with_Joyfully_Reviewed/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cupidslibraryreviews/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DarkDivaReviews/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebookChatters/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EuroReviewsChat/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karendevinkaren/
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenfindoutaboutnewbooks/

3.) Sign up for on-line author chats – many of the Yahoo groups sponsor on-line chats. It’s a great way to connect with readers &other writers.
4.) Participate in giveaways. If the winner likes your book they might buy the next one or recommend you to a friend.
5.) Set up a blog tour to promote your book. The way I did this was to join Savvy Authors. The membership includes use of their blog tour tool. You can choose up to 10 sites. The contact emails are automatically sent to the blog owners and they will contact you and let you know if they have openings during the dates you have selected. The blog owner will also let you know what type of post they would like to see. Today I am here at Let’s Talk Romance to share with you these tips as well as introduce you to The Bradford Sisters. So without further ado….

I invite you to take a break from everyday life and get lost in a world filled with
passion, drama and romance.
Meet the Bradford Sisters: Nicole, Natalie and Kate.
Guilty As Charged – Bradford Sisters Trilogy #1
Nicole’s Story

Passion ignites between Nicole Bradford and Max Paradis the second they lay eyes on each other. Nicole seems to be everything that Max is looking for in a woman. She’s sweet and loving and incredibly sexy. But looks can be deceiving. Hadn’t he learned that the hard way?

Nicole is crazy for Max. He is sensitive, caring, and his kisses are to die for. But when secrets from her past are revealed will she be found innocent, or is she guilty as charged?
Watch The Book!
Guilty As Charged is now available from Sugar and Spice Press

Shattered Dreams- Bradford Sisters Trilogy #2
Natalie’s Story

Natalie and Reed seemed so happy when they got married just a few short months ago, but an unexpected pregnancy and a subsequent miscarriage throw their marriage into turmoil.

Natalie deals with the loss by burying herself in work. Reed is supportive but doesn’t understand why she is spending so much after-hours time with her handsome, sexy boss. And what about their dream of having a family? How can that happen when with each passing day Natalie becomes more distant?

Will Reed and Natalie find a way to work things out, or will all their dreams be shattered?

Watch The Book!
Shattered Dreams is now available from Sugar and Spice Press

Coming Soon
Shattered Illusions – Bradford Sisters Trilogy #3
Kate’s Story
Four years ago Kate Bradford met Raffaello D’Onofrio while attending a semester abroad. Rafe ran the family vineyard in the Lazio region of Italy but the thing that attracted her to him most, besides his ruggedly handsome good looks, fathomless deep blue eyes, and well-toned body, was his love of art. It was a passion they shared.

He had been the perfect man as far as she was concerned and in a few short months she fell deeply in love. She had thought that love was returned. Then she found Annalisa De Luca in his apartment wearing nothing but the shirt Rafe had been wearing the evening before. All her illusions were shattered. Distraught and wanting to escape the pain of Rafe’s betrayal, she returned to her home in Chicago, IL.

Now Rafe is back in her life and much to her chagrin, she is still attracted to him. How can just one look from those sexy blue eyes affect her so deeply and what is she going to do about it?

Rafe D’Onofrio has just agreed to allow the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art to display his unique art collection—a collection he has always kept private until now. This after learning the museum’s new assistant curator was none other than Kate Bradford. Once he had thought himself in love with her but after her abrupt departure from his life with no explanation he convinced himself it was just an illusion. So why, after all this time, can the mere mention of her name still send his pulse soaring? And what is he going to do about it?

Will Rafe and Kate shatter the illusions of the past and find love again? Or are they too much to overcome?

Thanks for stopping by and learning about the Bradford Sisters.
Please visit me at my website to learn more about me and my books or visit me at Facebook
Happy Holidays!

Anna James

—
Thanks for visiting, Anna.

—-

April Dawn
Author of Crushing Desire and Bound By Love

Welcome to the Blog Hop Contest – Win a Nook Color and loads of books Dec 16th – 23rd

Happy Holidays everyone! This year we are doing a fun and special contest called a blog hop. This means that a number of blog owners will give away stuff on their blogs, and you can hop from site to site entering each contest.
Check out this and other blogs anytime between Dec 16th and 23rd and leave comments to be entered to win each blog’s giveaway.
All entrants will also be entered to win the Grand prize, a Nook Color.

• Yes, you heard that right. The Grand Prize Is A Nook Color!

Be sure to sign up to follow the blog and leave a message here and you will be entered to win the Nook Color, AND you will be entered to win a copy of Crushing Desire by April Dawn, and A Surprising Day, by Ava Delany.

Crushing Desire
Reena Harrison is anything but the fashion, but despite her flaws, she has several suitors. Unfortunately, the one man she has always loved is not one of them. After things go dreadfully wrong with a suitor and her family, she finds herself asking Joshua a peculiar favor.

Joshua Sinclair has long had a fascination with the tall beauty. After years of denying his feelings for Reena in pure military fashion, he finds himself thrown together with her in an out of control scheme. How can he possibly rule his emotions when he finds himself posing as the sensuous woman’s husband?

A Surprising Day

Todd thinks Debbie is the sexiest woman alive, despite the hideous Happy Burger uniform she’s wearing. The tatts peeking from beneath her tan outfit and the band-aid that’s not quite covering the ring in her nose tell him she’s just the girl for him. Unfortunately, she seems to think he’s a geek. Damn, why didn’t he change his clothes after his interview? It doesn’t matter, though. He’ll just have to convince her to take it all off him with a game of strip poker. Then she’ll see who he really is, and he’ll see what hides beneath her bland clothes.

Debbie can’t believe the dorky-looking guy who’s been staring at her since he and his friend sat down has the nerve to ask her out. No way! She’d never agree to go out with such a square. Then Todd bets he can surprise her, and Debbie accepts the challenge. Partly because she loves a good bet, but mostly because something dark and sexy in his eyes tells her he might be worth it. She’s shocked when he comes to pick her up in a sexy black truck with barbed-wire on the grill, and when he gets her back to his place for a game of strip poker, she finds the evening’s surprises may never stop.

Then check out the other blogs (click on the pic above to go to the originating blog), each dedicated to different romance writers and genres, like Stockings and Stays, which is dedicated to historical romance, or Just Romantic Suspense, which is dedicated to, you guessed it, Amish romance. JK.

Have fun on your blog hopping and good luck. I’ll be posting a winner for the books (and the Nook) after the contest ends and the winners have been selected through random.org.

An Interesting Interview with Jean Joachim

LTR: Welcome to the blog. We all want to know what’s going on right now with your writing career. What’s simmering in the pot, and what have you recently finished.

Jean: I just finished the second books in three series, April’s Kiss in the Moonlight, second in The Moonlight Series, Now and Forever 2, the Book of Danny, second in the Now and Forever series and Champagne for Christmas (in final edits) second in the New York Nights series I also recently finished the first in that series, “The Marriage List”, a New York Nights romance. I’m exhausted and planning to take a week off before finishing a book I’m writing with a partner, a military romance called “Lost & Found.”

LTR: Wow, that would have me lying on the floor in a catatonic state! You are my hero!

If you could date one of the heroes in your books, which would it be? What features make you like him the most?

JEAN: I don’t want to make any of my men jealous. This is like trying to pick a favorite among your children. I can’t as I love them all. If I don’t love a hero, how can I expect my readers to love him? So I’d date Mac for his maturity, sense of humor and sexiness, Danny for his fierce protectiveness and making me feel safe and sexiness, Gavin and Mike for their sweetness, and sexiness, Grey for his suave, wealthy ways, sweetness and sexiness and Clint for his humor and sexiness.

LTR: Wow, I wish we could mold all of those men together and have wonderful man brownie!

Can you give us an excerpt from one of your books?

JEAN:

Sure: This is from Now and Forever
“I get the idea. He’s not much in the sack,” he said, bluntly, his gaze seeking hers.

“Not exactly,” she said, her hands twisting the cloth napkin.

“A beautiful woman like you deserves more.” He saw her eyes widen as he rested his hand over hers, calming her.

Her hands stopped, he closed his fingers around hers and she lifted her eyes to his.

“You’re right,” she said, hunger evident in her gaze.

“You deserve a man who can send you to the moon,” he murmured. He gazed at her face, lovely in the candle glow.

He gazed at her face, lovely in the candle glow.

He focused on her delicate mouth and inviting lips. He couldn’t keep his eyes from traveling over her body. His fingertips tingled when his gaze lit on her breasts, wondering how they would feel, anxious to find out but afraid to rush her.

“I don’t like to talk about Kyle. Most people don’t understand. But you’re different,” Danny said, dropping his eyes and changing the subject.

LTR: Wow, I’m ready to melt right here. You are a great writer! Thanks for sharing with us.

This is an age old question that every author has to answer about 20,000 times. What got you into writing, and how old were you?

JEAN: I’ve been making up stories since I was about five years old and writing as soon as I learned how. I always loved writing, maybe because I loved reading so much. To be able to be transported to another world through words fascinated me. And it still does. Now I do the transporting most of the time, but sometimes, my subconscious takes over and the story bends in another direction, taking me on a new magic carpet ride with it. My first book, non-fiction was published in 2003 by St. Martin’s Press. My first articles appeared in business and parenting magazines twenty years ago. I started in non-fiction first, but fiction has always been my first love. I’ve only been writing it for two years.

LTR: You’ve only been doing fiction for two years? Wow, you got about 1,000 books in the works, and from what I read you should be writing more and more and more.

If you couldn’t be a writer, what would you do with your life? Nothing. I’d be scratching stories out in the sand with my finger or telling them to people over campfires and coffee. There is nothing else I want to do.

LTR: That is wonderful that you wouldn’t do anything else. I’ve decided that I want to be the dwarf Grumpy when I get older.

Do you have a day job that interferes with your ‘real life’ as an author?

JEAN: No. I’m lucky. I write fulltime.

LTR: That’s great that you get to do that full time. There’s nothing better for concentration than focusing only on your writing.

Tell us something unique about yourself that we don’t know.

JEAN: I’m Jewish but my family has been here a long time. My grandfather was born in Arizona and was at one time the sheriff of Aspen. One of his brothers was an Admiral in the Navy. Two unusual pursuits for people of my faith.

LTR: Sounds like a very strong family. I bet your dad was a good Sheriff. A man in uniform is always great.

Bacon or ham?

JEAN: Both, but if I had to choose, bacon definitely!

LTR: I know, that’s a completely unfair question. (But I’m a little devil like that!)

Chocolate or Jelly Beans?

JEAN: Chocolate, though that’s the boring choice.

LTR: Chocolate is never a boring choice. (Unless you are eating Palmer’s chocolate.)

Now that we’ve gotten to know you, we need to know where to find you so we can stalk, I mean visit you. I have a new website.

JEAN: You can find me at www.jeanjoachimbooks.com.

LTR: It’s been a pleasure having you here, I certainly hope you drop by again.

This was so funny I had to share….

Hey I wanted to spread a little christmas joy, well a bit fun anyway….This really doesn’t have much to do with Christmas, but I love to put smiles on people’s faces and so for Wednesday blog I’m sending out some smiles and a few “guffaws” I’m sure.  : )

Have you ever been driving down, or taking a walk down the road and notice something that makes you slap your head and say WTF?

Well I thought I would compile a few pictures of some of my WTF “visuals”.

Careful the following may be hazardous to your funny-bone!

Now here’s a product that should sell like the dick’ens…

…buy one above and get a coupon to…

This is what happens when we legalize pot…

This is what happens when we legalize pot and point our college grads to where then can get it!

And this is why I don't eat carrots!

What did they say?

I'm speechless... : - 0

How 'bout a good kids movie for family night?...Or...maybe a tripple..err...quadruple feature?

  

5 Great Lines from Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

5 Great Lines from Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

1

And when her lips met mine, I knew that I could live to be a hundred and visit every country in the world, but nothing would ever compare to that single moment when I first kissed the girl of my dreams and knew that my love would last forever.

2

“Passion is passion. It’s the excitement between the tedious spaces, and it doesn’t matter where it’s directed…It can be coins or sports or politics or horses or music or faith…the saddest people I’ve ever met in life are the ones who don’t care deeply about anything at all.”

3

“It’s possible to go on, no matter how impossible it seems.”

4

“”It’ll be hard, but life moves fast-we’ll see each other again. I know that. I can feel that. Just like I can feel how much you care for me and how much I love you”

5

“They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even when you don’t know it”

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.
Look for my newest release- A Surprising Day – on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.