Warm summer books for cold winter days

New release announcement! My latest book, Resorts (for short), is out.It's available at Amazon right now, and will be in wide release in May.

It's a summertime book so if you're in the grip of winter, maybe this is what you need.

This is one of the first books I ever wrote and it took a lot of editing to get it in shape to submit to an editor. It's 2 books in one, really. One book is set in the present day and the other is 30 years ago, when the hero/heroine first met. 

Can you imagine combining two books into one readable book? It was a challenge!

Check it out and tell me how I did ....

Release Day: 'Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon'

 

Woohoo! Today is Release Day!

 

Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon
A Highland Gardens Novel
Bk #2

 

Available for Kindle

What happens when a twenty-first century business executive is expected to fulfill a prophecy given at the birth of a sixteenth-century seer? Of course, he must raise his sword in her defense.
Believing women only want him for his wealth, Finn MacIntyre doesn't trust any woman to love him. When, during Scottish Highland games, faerie magic sends him back in time to avenge the brutal abduction of his time-traveling cousin, he learns he's the subject of a fae prophecy.

Elspeth MacLachlan, the beloved clan seer, is betrothed to a man she dislikes and dreams of the man prophesized at her birth, only to find him in the most unexpected place—facedown in the mud.

With the help of fae allies, they must overcome the treachery set to destroy them to claim a love that transcends time.


Journey from the lush gardens of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to the Scottish Highlands of 1511 with Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon.


~Dawn Marie

Juggling too many balls this month

I barely have time to take a deep breath this month, so that means I won't have a cohesive thought to blog about.

I know in a week or two life will ease up, but right now, I'm overwhelmed. I'm so overwhelmed I had a book release and I haven't even mentioned it anywhere.

Sigh.

That's what comes from having to work for a living!

Anyway, here's my book. It's called Righter because the main character (Mike) is a writer and he's out to right an old wrong. He's a retired actor and he's going undercover -- as a woman -- to a writing conference to out a murderer and find the man who assaulted an old friend.

It's a male POV book, so it was very Victor/Victoria for me: a woman, writing as a man, who's pretending to be a woman.

Challenging but fun to write. It's on Amazon right now and will go into wider distribution this summer (and will be free in May).

Now on to my next crisis!

#NewBook Release by Angela Kay Austin

Love All Over Me which was inspired by one of my favorite singers--Monica, is finally here!  If you haven't heard her music, you have to go and purchase any album you find.  She's a singer who actually sings.  She's lucky we're not friends because I swear, I'd find reason to coax her into singing for any reason.  Ex:  "Monica, I feel horrible...my man just dumped me." Or, "Monica, I broke  a nail."  Whatever would work :-) Monica's response would be instant beautiful music to uplift me.  Right?  Of course!

The song that inspired this short is titled "Love All Over Me."


As I watched the video, I thought what if that first love was lost, but in a more permanent way.  But, what if the love left behind couldn't let go, and what if the lost love couldn't let go either.  What would that mean for both of them?

Here's the blurb for my new release:

Tamara Blanden blames herself for the loss of her one true love.  Hidden away from life, she lives only to see him again.

Jerome Blanden couldn't let go of his love, even in death.  Because of him, his selfishness, she'd loss so much time.  Time he couldn't give back.  But, he could change everything.

Available today from MuseitUp Publishing!

The new publishing paradigm

A couple weeks ago I was present at the RWA convention when Stephanie Laurens made her amazing keynote address on the changing of the publishing world. In case you missed it, she’s put the text and the slides up here: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/rwa12keynote.html To summarize what Ms. Laurens said, the publishing world is changing but our role in it stays the same with respect to writing the best book we can. We just have a lot more options now when it comes to publishing and can choose to take advantage of pieces of the publishing world rather than contract with a publisher.

Since pretty much anyone can take their written material and put it up on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or some other online store, the question is why trade the 60+% of the profits of a book for what a publishing house can give you? This is question a lot of authors are asking right now, and with good reason. I don’t have experience with the traditional publishing world, but I can tell you in the small-press world it is a really big question.

I see a publishing house offering three things of importance: good editing, good distribution, and a name for quality. A do-it-yourselfer can hire a good freelance editor, and contract cover art that, if not the best in the world, at least they have control over. And the distribution isn’t that hard to manage with KDP for Amazon, Pubit! for Barnes and Noble, Kobo’s Writer’s Life, and Smashwords for everything else. But the last item, the reputation of the publishing house to attract readers, that is something a lot more difficult for an individual author to manage.

If you have a big name already, you might be able to just throw up your work on Amazon and most likely your fans will find you. Price your book a dollar or so below your traditionally published titles and your voracious readers will snap it up as a bargain.

If you don’t have a massive fan base, then you need to have some way to get the reader’s attention. There are so many books released at online book vendors every day, if not every hour, that it is easy to overlook yours. If a publishing house has a reputation then people flock to it on release day to shop for new books and even if they don’t buy the book on the publisher’s website, they will look it up on the various online ebook stores associated with their favorite ebook reader and buy it there. The publisher’s website becomes the virtual bookstore to browse through.

I have a new title coming out today (8/14/2012), Beloved Stranger, which has already been preselling at Samhain, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble for the past couple of months. It is part of my Gaian science fiction romance series and is about a young woman sneaking into a Gaian prison colony to find her sisters by marrying one of the prisoners. It is a sequel to Beloved Traveler where we first meet Sonja Deems. She was so kick-ass as a character I decided I had to use her in another book, hence this one.

I’m very excited because this is my first title with Samhain and so far I’ve been very impressed with the editing, the covers, and the overall professionalism of the company and the people I've dealt with. I’m looking forward to seeing how sales are and if my publishing a book with Samhain gives me more profits than self-publishing.

Anyone else thinking about these things? How is the new publishing paradigm effecting you?

What is there to learn about promotion?

I recently attended a one-day workshop that had Jimmy Thomas as the speaker.

Jimmy who?

If you're in the romance publishing area, he is a well known commodity. Jimmy Thomas is a cover model and he's on about a bazillion covers. See Romance Novel Center -- that's Jimmy, on the cover.

The thing that was very interesting about this workshop was his business acumen. Yes, he's a hunky guy with a great personality and very appealing eye candy. But from the minute he got into the cover business, as it were, he has controlled his destiny. He came up with the idea of stock covers (see the stock cover page) for authors in self-publishing (and for publishers). He knows how to set up a photo shoot and understands what makes an appealing cover. He created a "community" where authors can hang out and interact with others who are interested in cover art, etc.

He has made a career from his looks, true, but he's also set up a future for himself so he doesn't have to depend on his current appeal to support him. It's like creating a back list for an author -- have those books out there so people can discover them. They may read your 25th book (like mine, which came out a few weeks ago) then say, "hey, I want to read more" and they'll go searching for that back list.

The best way to sell is word of mouth -- reviews, recommendations, 'home grown' publicity. Jimmy Thomas has built up his reputation by providing a nice product at a reasonable price with consistent quality. Authors can learn from this. Always put forth your best work. Always remember with any book you are making a first impression with someone who just picked you up (as an author).

Work hard, do the kind of work you're comfortable doing, enjoy yourself, and focus on your career. That's what he did and it's working. I came away with a few new ideas and a reaffirmation of what I'm doing: writing the best book I can and making sure my products are available for a reasonable cost.

Thanks, Jimmy, for a very enjoyable day. You go, boy...

This is when Writing is Fun

What a coincidence of fun: my newest book, Twistered, is out today -- and it's Memorial Day weekend, which is when the book takes place.

I love it when that happens!

This is my Oz book, in which I take the books of L. Frank Baum and I use some of his characters to create my own real-life Oz, in Broomfield, Kansas. There's Jack Tinsley (the Tin Man), Drew Strawn (the Scarecrow), the Wanda W. Wickman (Mina: the Wicked Witch), and of course there's Dorothy, the heroine. I also tossed in the Wickeds motorcycle gang, So-So the cat, Glynnis, the Professor, Leo (Dorothy's best friend) and of course, a Yellow Brick Road!

I hope people have as much fun reading this as I had writing it -- it's fun vacation reading!

Pretend I am here...

... but I'm not. I'm out of town. Again. House hunting.

Yes, life is once again a juggling act.

Like so many authors, I'm making a foray into self-publishing by uploading some old titles of mine. One book is out there -- it was called "Forgiveness" but I changed the title to "Penance" (my first choice for the book but I was overruled). I uploaded it last week. I hope to have the second book in the series uploaded soon and the third book in another month or so.

I figure this is a win-win for me. The rights were returned to me on these books, and I'm not out-of-pocket much (just the cost of cover art and formatting). I haven't done much promotion yet for the book(s). I hope to get to that once the Great House Hunt settles down.

Yes, we're hunting and we thought we had the perfect house. Sweet little layout, nice property, yada yada yada ... then we met with the owner and he gestured grandly toward the pasture in the distance. "That's where they say they might build the highway, but they've been talking about that for 30 years so ..."

SCREECH. Yep, we ground to a halt. My husband (bless him) immediately started calling the DOT, the mayor, the Planning Commission -- so small feat since we live in Minnesota and the house is in Iowa. The bottom line? The road will be built. Maybe 5 years, maybe 10. Maybe sooner. No one is sure.

So it's back to house hunting, which is a nice diversion from promotion, which is a nice diversion from house hunting. Maybe I'm finally getting this whole 'balance' thing figured out. It's just a matter of juggling the right kind of balls at the same time ....

See Me is Available Now

I'm thrilled to announce my latest release, an erotic short titled, See Me, is now available from Samhain. Here is the blurb:

Through the eyes of desire…

These days, Lydia is feeling increasingly restless, and tired of being invisible. No one at work notices the nose-to-the-grindstone colleague dressed in business drab. Her neighbors don’t even know her name.

No one knows she burns off her frustration by dancing to her favorite music, alone in her apartment. No one knows her closet is a wardrobe divided: monochrome and flats by day, silk and stilettos by night. No one knows her secret ritual has slowly evolved into private stripping…then dancing naked on her tiny balcony, daring someone—anyone—to notice.

Then, at the apartment across the way, the curtains move.

Wes can’t believe what he’s been missing by working the night shift. He is drawn to the amazing woman whose every sensual move makes his body ache. And when she catches him watching, the evening explodes into an erotic fantasy. Afterward, though, she confesses she’s not all she seems. No way is this fiery siren as boring and unlovable as she claims.

And no way is he going to let her go without convincing her she is brave, beautiful…and the face he wants to see every morning.

And a short excerpt:

I feel more daring than usual tonight. Today’s snub pushed me over the edge. I reach for the red demi-bra I’d ordered online but hadn’t even tried on yet. I slip my arms through the slender straps and snug it up under my breasts. After I hook it behind my back, I step in front of the full-length mirror.

The push-up bra fits perfectly, tight enough around my ribs to notice, but not enough to restrict my movements. I wouldn’t want to do that. My heart beats a little faster as I see the way the cups stop just short of my nipples. They’ve beaded quite nicely as they peek over the top, obviously looking forward to brushing intimately against whatever garment I choose for tonight’s performance.

I don’t know why I bothered with the panties. They’re soaked already.

Some nights I linger here in my safe closet, taking my time while deciding which dress to wear. I love to run my hands over the various textures, the different colors, debating necklines and hemlines. But tonight I’m anxious to get started. Ready to crank up the music and feel the blood pulsing through my veins again.

The silk wrap dress will be perfect. The fabric slides sensuously against my skin as I slip my hands through the armholes and draw it up my back and over my shoulders. The long sleeves are tight, an erotic binding along my arms. When I wrap the bodice over my breasts, my nipples send tingles of delight shooting straight between my legs. I tie the sash tightly at my waist. Quivers of anticipation dance in my stomach.

Now for the shoes.

I love shoes. My mood, my attitude can change completely depending upon the shoes I put on my feet. I stand in front of the rows of pumps and sandals and boots in colors to match every outfit hanging beside them. It’s a toss-up between the red sandals with the half-dozen skinny straps that hug my foot like a lover’s hand or the red pumps with the sparkly bling on the heels and toes. I hold them up to the light and the bling wins. I step into them, and my muscles stretch and tremble in anticipation.

I practiced for hours before I could actually dance in four-inch heels. I could barely toddle around my living room for the first few weeks. But now I don’t even have to think about it and the way they make my legs look, long and lean, is so worth it.

I turn to catch my reflection in the mirror. My dark, heavy hair is still clipped up, but stray ringlets have escaped around my face. I trade out my tiny pearl earrings for some shiny silver ones that dangle almost to my shoulders. I add some dramatic make-up, deep ruby lips and creamy blush, thick mascara and bold eyeliner. My nipples poke at the silk, my skin shimmers beneath the light. Some days I think I must have a split personality. No one at The Information Station would recognize me now. Sometimes I don’t recognize myself.

Or is it the mousy phone rep with the boring wardrobe that I don’t recognize? When did I become her? How did it happen? I run my hands over my body and push the questions away. There’s no time for deep thoughts right now. I’m restless and ready for action.

You can buy a copy through Samhain's My Bookstore and More.
Or through Amazon.

Natasha
www.natashamoore.com

I won the lottery!

No, not that kind of lottery. I get to post on Thanksgiving Day (insert smiley face here).

I'm scheduled to post on the 25th of every month, and lo, and behold: Thanksgiving Day! I hope most of you folks in the U.S. are having fun with your families and are busily eating yummy food and planning attacks on the shopping malls tomorrow.

For those international visitors, fear not: we'll be back soon!

As for me? I've had a problematic month. A story for another post. It's been what I call a dippity-do sort of time. Up, down, all around, emotionally, authorially (I wonder if that's a word?), at work at home. Very busy deadlines at work, death in my family, some house crises, a computer crash ... the usual "what else does life have in store for me" kinds of things. My head is still spinning.

I found out I'm a double finalist in the Epic eBook competition. Even that's a double-edged sword for reasons that are too long to discuss here. I'm happy, but ... 

And I had a book release earlier this month. This is one of the first books I ever drafted and here it is, book 16 on my list. It took me that long to learn enough to edit it properly, I think. It's a 'romp' book -- a cross-country adventure with a hero and heroine who aren't sure they're ready for love.

Whoops! Doesn't matter if you're ready or not, here it comes! Toss in some politicians (I LOVE beating up on politicians) and you have an adventure, a mystery, and one heck of a love story. As always, it's a tiny bit steamy, but not explicit (I just don't write explicit first-person books. Sorry).

So check it out after you polish off those leftovers. Grab a fun book to take your mind off all that Christmas shopping, and decorating, and wrapping that needs to be done. Give yourself a break and relax for a few hours. Go on. You deserve it!