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Happy Saturday! Busy weekend for me, along with working extra hours at the Evil Empire, the grade-schooler has some functions that should keep me out of all kinds of trouble. Not that I’m leaving my house to enter the deep freeze for anything except the most important things.
Favorite Song of the Week ~ I’m moving this feature to the top, so you can listen to the song as you continue reading the post. I just heard this today, thanks to Rhapsody’s Holiday Playlist. The First Noel by Toby Mac featuring Owl City There isn’t a video, so I didn’t even bother posting the visual. Have a listen! What do you think?
Work in Progress News ~ Currently about 2/3 through Wyoming Solace. I’m changing a few things, but I doubt anyone would notice except me. There’s a plot thread I snipped, so now I’m darning the weave back together. I’m also adding dialogue and some UST in the first few chapters. Let’s hope it all turns out. As an author it’s very hard to open a three year old file and re-work it to incorporate everything I learned since the book was first written. I’m trying my best to keep the story the same, just cutting some of the extra cheese.
Backlist News ~ Over at Dark Mountain Books, I finally put my indie books up at BookStrand and Google. I’m not sure how many readers I’ll find there, but this also puts the books into the Googlebooks database. Trina and I are also making plans for Holiday promotions, so stay tuned! Also, I received the final versions of Last Call in my inbox yesterday. They’re all wrapped and ready for March!
Search Term of the week aka How People Found My Websites ~ This week someone found Alanna’s site by searching for “coca liar”. Liar is such a hateful label. It’s fiction, boys and girls.
What I’m reading ~ This week I’ve been so busy working on Wyoming Solace, I didn’t get a chance to read anything new. I hope I finish this rewrite so I can reward myself with some of my Cyber Monday purchases!
Hero Quote ~ Direct from Josh the cowboy hero in my contemporary western Tessa’s Pride
“I’ve pulled the memory of that afternoon out more times than I can count. I’ll never forget the way you looked with your Stetson tilted over your brow. Your bare legs, so smooth…and your mouth… God, your mouth.”
Okay folks, get back to your holiday shopping! I’m right behind you.
Who doesn’t love online shopping? Although many of us go to the store in our pajamas anyway, shopping online is the most acceptable way to shop in your skivvies! Not that skivvy shopping should be the big draw, but I digress.
Today only, you can download a FREE COPY of my book Falling Star, or Alanna’s book Fine Print. Just click the cover to get to the book’s Smashwords page, where you can choose the format. The coupon code is posted below, be sure to copy that to paste in the Smashwords cart. Maybe after a whole day of Cyber Surfing, you can take a few hours to relax and enjoy a good book.
Fine Print Coupon: WH45S Falling Star Coupon: EZ77Q
I hope all my fellow Americans had a great Thanksgiving! I spent mine making a bunch of noise surrounded by my huge family. The best part is…I still have a whole pie in the fridge! Good times.
Work in Progress News ~ This week I’ve been going over my very first book, Alanna’s Wyoming Solace. I want to rework a few scenes before Linda, my editor over at Samhain gets a hold of it. There’s an entire plot thread I decided to remove. It might shorten the book some, but I think it will be a better story in the end. I’m only about 1/3 of the way through. I hope this doesn’t take me too long, because I’ve got new stories begging to be written!
Industry News ~ One of the scariest things to pop up in a long time, SOPA–the Stop Online Piracy Act–an anti-infringement bill that’s working it’s way through the U.S. House, while its companion bill PIPA–Protect Intellectual Property Act is in the hands of the Senate. Opposition has gone viral, with over a million emails hitting Congress. SOPA would give content owners the ability to shut down access to “rogue” sites, force Web registries to block entire domains, and force banks and credit card companies to stop doing business with sites accused of supporting or inducing infringement, with just a court order. This would mean no more picture sharing across the web, it could affect book excerpts on author sites…it could get really ugly. Even Wikipedia would be in danger, and I don’t know about you, but I LOVE my Wiki.
Search Term of the week aka How People Found My Websites ~ I found it a little interesting that people found Alanna’s site by searching for “silky red teddy” and another group of folks found me by Googling “red satin background”. Coincidence? Yeah probably.
What I’m reading ~ I read two short books last week, one is Revealed by Lissa Matthews. It’s book three of a trilogy, but I didn’t realize that when I purchased it. Luckily the book stands on its own, I just missed a bunch of the sexual tension and first meeting of these two. I might just go back 
and read the other two now. And yes, one does wear a kilt. This is the halting/awkward beginnings of a D/s relationship between these two guys. I enjoyed reading their discomfort. I also read a quickie by Vivien Dean called Tis the Season. This one felt more like the beginning of a trilogy, as it left me begging for more. Two divorced dads meet after a school function for their kids. I really liked these two characters, and would love to read more about them –hint hint, Vivien.
Hero Quote ~ This is actually internal thought from Cody, the hero in Wyoming Solace:
You did it. You let her go. Congratulations. Now get your ass back on your horse and get the hell out of here.
Favorite Song of the Week ~ Okay, it’s the time of year where I break out the Christmas music! So you’ll see my faves here for the next six weeks or so. This one is great, it’s by Straight No Chaser, a twelve man acappella group. They have such fun with this song.
That’s it for me. Have a great week!
Wait, Thanksgiving week? For reals? I do love Thanksgiving. Food and I have a love/love relationship, so any day dedicated to stuffing myself silly is pretty much my favorite. Welcome back, I’m asking for reader help this week on a little side project. I’ll do my begging at the end though.
Work in Progress News ~ I just (literally, just three minutes ago as of posting this) wrote The End on my short contemporary. It not only has a title, but it’s got an awesome cover. What do you think? Booknibbles does great work. I’m looking at a few publishers for this guy. For more info, and to read chapter one, click the covers. Next up–reworking Alanna’s Wyoming Solace for republication.
Upcoming Release News ~ Last Call got its new cover! Isn’t it pretty? Booknibbles tweaked the font a bit to show how HOT the book is! This book is coming out in March. I just received the ARC, and it’s beautiful. Samhain does lovely work.
Industry News ~ Kindle just announced their delayed gifting program. Now I can buy a Kindle book as a gift, and tell Amazon when to deliver it. This is great for Christmas presents! On that note, if there’s anyone out there who’d like to give one of my books as a Kindle gift, I’ve got cover flats I can sign and send to the recipient so they have something under the tree. Just drop me a line!
Search Term of the week aka How People Found My Websites ~ How about “touch sexy in bus”? Makes you think of Alanna Coca, right?
What I’m reading ~ Usually before bed I like to read a bit. Often I pick books I’ve already read so I don’t stay up all night long reading something really good. Well, dumb me, I picked up Josh Lanyon’s The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks. I admit, when I first read the title, I pictured Tom Hanks and his one red shoe, that’s how old I am. Anyway, this is a great mystery, complete with a haunted house, seances, and a great cast of characters. Then the love story, which is a great tale of opposites attract. A very good read, but not when you think you can just read “a chapter or two and then go to bed at a decent hour”. That won’t happen.
Hero Quote ~ From Last Call, my newly covered re-release:
“Look at me. You’re beautiful. Sexy. Funny. Smart.” He licked her lips. “And you feel damn good around me. If there’s a man out there who can’t appreciate you for all that I can already see, then he’s a fool that you’re better off without.”
Favorite Song of the Week ~ Nina Doesn’t Care. By Susan Egan, Disney’s Broadway Belle. Have a baby, it’s an ego-check.
Thanks for stopping by! Now for my favor…I’m doing a little something special for the Romance Times conference next year. Without giving the whole thing away, let me just say I have some cover photos, and I need some titles. Now, if they’re really good titles, I might actually write the book, but as it is, I just need the cover and title. I’ve got them posted on Google Plus and Facebook. If you could hop over to one of those sites and give me your opinions, you might win a backlist book! Thanks in advance. Have a great week!
Welcome! It’s a beautiful weekend here on top of this mountain. Well, as beautiful as it gets in November. I’m not complaining, there’s no white stuff.
Work in Progress News ~ Folks, I’ve been on a roll! I’m well over 13K in this book that I meant to be only 15K complete. There’s a “dead zone” between 15K and 17K as far as publishers go. Some don’t even accept books in that range, so I’ll have to tread lightly here. I skipped one sex scene, and I’m wrapping up the HEA right now, so we’ll see where it ends up. I’d love to write “the end” on this guy this weekend, but I’m scheduled to work at the Evil Empire, so it might not happen. Soon, though!
Industry News ~ It looks like Japan’s biggest internet retailer purchased the Kobo. Since Rakuten already owns its own ereader, the Panasonic Raboo, this acquisition should make Rakuten one of the biggest players in the ebook industry. They’re also opening up the Kobo to accept self-publishers like Amazon’s KDP program. Great news!
Search Term of the week aka How People Found My Websites ~ Someone found Alanna’s site by searching for “alanna kookblog”. Should I be offended? Naw…kook is good, right?
What I’m reading ~ Haven’t had much time to read, so I picked up one of my old favorites. Sometimes that’s just what I need to destress. It’s like putting on my favorite fuzzy slippers. Sweet Anger by Sandra Brown, originally published in 1999 under one of her pen names. This is just a classic romance. The hero falls for her first, and takes his time winning her *swoon*. The tension between these two is palpable. They really are at odds most of the book. My first copy of the book had the cover to the right. I’d read it so much I had to tape the spine together. Recently on Twitter, I won (yes! Really!) a new copy of Sweet Anger from Sandra, and I got her autograph! I’m such a fangirl.
Hero Quote ~ From the WiP I’m about to finish. Still untitled, labeled as Grant:
“Last chance. I’m about to kiss you. This’ll change everything.”
Favorite Song of the Week ~ An oldie, but one that still touches me. This one by Selena, released mere months after the singer’s murder.
Beautiful. I love her voice.
That’s it for me this week. Have a great one!
Welcome! I’m having a real hard time with putting November in that title. I swear we just had Valentine’s Day! This year is passing so quickly! Sorry I missed last week’s update, but I was in the middle of a blog hop with a ton of other authors, so I put the status on hiatus. Now I’ve got two weeks’ worth of news to share. Kinda. Check out that wood pile. I’d be afraid to use any of that wood and ruin the work of art!
Work in Progress News ~ I did it again. I started a new book before finishing the one I was working on (or the other eight in the IP file) I wrote over 2K the first day I started it, so it felt good to get some words in. This one is filed as Grant, and it will be a short story by Olivia involving a boss and his employee. I like to have shorts in the IP file, so if I finish this one first, I’ll have to come up with another plot to keep my balance.
Backlist News ~Alanna’s book Retreat got a very nice five star review this week over at Manic Readers. Alberta says “I loved this tender and very poignant love story, Retreat that has loads of conflicts, differing goals that must somehow mesh if they are ever to find happiness together. I loved Jake as a modern day hero who would do anything to get Andria back in his arms. Five Stars.” Retreat is one of the books I wrote at the same time as two (maybe three?) others, and so often I forget that I even had anything to do with it. It’s like my shy quiet child being raised amongst wild monsters.
Industry News ~ Amazon announced its Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which is a service for Prime members only, and not every publisher is on board with this, but think of Amazon as a digital library. Where you can only check out one book per month. And you have to be a club member to get in. But no late fees! I think it’s a great idea, and I hope my books are in the KOLL for the elite Amazonians out there. (Looking into this) Barnes and Noble made their own announcement. It seems that with the mid-month release of the Nook tablet (rumored to be $249) , the Nook color model will drop in price to $199. That’s good news for the nookies out there!
Search Term of the week aka How People Found My Websites ~ This week I got this one: “dot to dot pictures erotic”. I spent about five minutes staring at that search term, wondering what the person was actually looking to find. Then I started wondering if there were any out there. Then I got a piece of paper to make my own. Then I thought about my kid finding it and actually doing the dot to dot. Then I shook my head.
What I’m reading ~ I read Cat Grant’s Once a Marine this week. This comes from the brand new digital first publisher Riptide Publishing. After reading this, and now that they’ve opened submissions, I might just see what I can do to write something worthy. Once a Marine is a lovely story about a Marine discharged under DADT. This book is written in first and third person, that is to say the first person point of view for Marc, one hero, and the chapters in the other hero Cole’s point of view are written in third. You’d think this would be confusing, but it isn’t, it was very smooth. Once a Marine is getting rave reviews, and is a bestseller at Amazon. Cat sure did a great job making Riptide look awesome for their launch.
Hero Quote ~ From my newest WiP mentioned above.
“I notice the way your heart beats like a rabbit’s every time you come into my office. I notice how your pupils dilate when I get close to you. On the very best days I notice other things.”
Favorite Song of the Week ~ Jackson Foote and crew covered Lil Jon’s Get Low <–might want to watch this first to get the full effect. I can’t get enough of this one. Both versions NSFW!
That’s it for me, folks. I’m working all weekend at the Evil Empire, where they’ve already started piping in Christmas Music. I guess we don’t need a November anyway, right?
Welcome! I hope you’re having a great time on the Ripped Roaring Hop! If you’re just happening by this post, you can find the entire hop by clicking HERE.
Rather than attempt to write a spooky story, I’m going to bow to the master, Edgar Allen Poe. The Raven is one of my favorite poems, and John De Lancie has a perfect voice for it. The video is rather boring, unless you enjoy watching a man talk into a microphone, but I like to listen with the lights off, a few candles lit, and my eyes closed.
Pure. Genius. Mr. Poe is near the top on my list of people I’d love to have over for dinner. I might invite this De Lancie fellow too. As long as one of them does the cooking.
Since I didn’t write a sexy scene for you all, you’re welcome to download my free read Tempting Tessa, which is the prequel to my contemporary western Tessa’s Pride. Beware, it’s naughty…
Thanks for stopping by. I hope I’ll see you in the Chat Room on Sunday!
It’s Saturday again! I’m late getting this up, thanks to WordPress for my daily collection of gray hair. I know you’re all on pins and needles, so on with the update!
Work in Progress News ~ I’m in the middle of merging two works into one. I also whittled down my “in progress” file down to eight. Five for Alanna, three for me. As I updated both sites’ Coming Soon pages, I noticed that all eight of the wips are full length. I enjoy writing novellas, so I need to come up with a plot for a shortie. Any ideas?
Industry News ~ Two bits of news this week. First, there’s news that the new Kindle OS will be compatible with HTML5, which is great news because that means the new Kindles will be able to read epub books with a lot fewer formatting issues. Also, how would you like a virtual bookstore that looks like this:
Pretty cool huh? Makes the virtual bookstore a more visual thing.
Search Term of the week aka How People Found My Websites ~ A couple surfers found my website by searching for “erotic riding” I suppose it’s a typo, but it could be a very interesting visual.
What I’m reading ~ Nothing new this week, but I did re-read a book by Cameron Dane, Something New. It’s a really good erotic menage with suspense elements.
A product of foster care, survivor Abby Gaines shields her heart and doesn’t believe in romance or love. Not even for Rodrigo Santiago and Braden Crenshaw, the two men — friends — starring in her erotic fantasies.
Tough-as-nails Rodrigo wants Abby with a passion. Just being near her makes him hard. To hide his desire, Rodrigo trades barbs and challenges everything Abby says. Rodrigo’s secret? Recently, someone else has begun arousing heterosexual Rodrigo’s libido too. Another man. Braden Crenshaw.
Bisexual, Braden has bounced between men and women in affairs that never last. He’s tired of hurting people but has never believed ménage relationships can work…until Abby and Rodrigo make him start aching for something new.
When Abby begins dreaming of her parents’ brutal double murder, the visions unearth new elements that make Abby question everything she thought she knew about the crime. Once Braden and Rodrigo discover the nightmares haunting Abby, they vow to help her find answers to mystery and love whether she wants their assistance or not.
Cameron is one of my favorite contemporary authors. There’s not a single book of hers that I read only once, and I’m loving her shift toward RS.
Hero Quote ~ From Alanna’s first novel, Wyoming Solace–Cody Campbell:
“You can rest now, Elise. No one will hurt you here.” He spoke against her hair, not wanting to relinquish his position. “For once…just rest. Sleep well.”
Favorite Song of the Week ~ This video is what turned me on to Sick Puppies. Apparently I’m not the only one. When one of the band members made this video as a gift to the man in the video, it went viral. I can’t say that the video helped launch the band, but it sure didn’t hurt.
Beautiful, huh? And we don’t have enough female bass players out there. Hear that, girls? Power up those amps. Okay, that’s it for me. Back to merging wips.
Have a great week, everyone!
Howdy! I know I’ve used this picture before, but I like it. So it’s Saturday again. Here’s what I’ve been up to for the past seven days:
Work in Progress News ~ I had a great start to the week, with wonderful plans to keep on chugging away on Alanna’s WiP of the week, Michael. This one is about a horrific car accident, and I just killed someone. I guess I need to grieve before I can move on. Yeah, that’s it.
Industry News ~ Lots of industry peeps are in New York today for the New York Comic Con. I doubt it would have anything for me, being a (mostly) contemporary romance author, but that didn’t stop Carina Press from celebrating with a 40% off coupon this weekend only! Click here to visit the site, and just type in NYCOMICCON at checkout. What? That link goes right to the Tessa’s Pride book page? Well that’s handy. Also going full force in New Orleans is the first annual (hopefully) GayRomLit Retreat. I’m seeing lots of fun posts coming out of that.
Real Life News ~ The weather is actually pretty nice. Maybe we’ll get an autumn this year! Not much news for this section this week. I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my dentist appointment…
Search Term of the week aka How People Found My Websites ~ Other than the continuing query of “tom selleck naked” which I believe I exacerbated by writing those words here last week (and this week too I guess) this week’s query winner is: ”libros de romance”, which reminds me of more news! I’ve enticed two Spanish speakers to read my books and translate them into Spanish! I’m very excited about that prospect.
What I’m reading ~ I’m just going to list the book(s) that I read each week. I’m not reviewing them, but I won’t post them if I don’t like them. This week I read 18% Grey by Anne Tenino. “In a future where the United States has split along party lines, Agent Matt Tennimore’s job is to get people out of the Confederated Red States, whether they’re captured special ops agents from his own country or gay CRS citizens who’ve petitioned for asylum. He never expected to have to retrieve his high school crush, aka the guy who ostracized him for being gay.” A really good read that I couldn’t finish all in one night, which meant that I ended up dreaming my own ending to the book. I admit Ms. Tenino did a better job than my subconscious.
Hero Quote ~ From Josh Bradley, the hero from Tessa’s Pride:
“You taste amazing. Even when you’re pissing me off.”
Favorite Song of the Week ~ Okay, Howard Jones showed up on my Twitter feed last week (I LOVE HIM!) I’d lost track of him over the past few years, relying on his old stuff to keep me from cracking up (HoJo fans get it) Come to find he put a new album out a couple years ago, found this song and just about melted.
Sigh. I had a teengirl crush on him back in the day, and he still sends warm fuzzies to my insides.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I do.
