In honor of Memorial day, I would like to remember all our fallen warriors and those who still fight for freedom, no matter where they are.
A bit of trivia for everyone, the Indianapolis 500 has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day 1911.
Enjoy the weekend.
Corporate raider Yvette Giardino intends to bring St. Eden Studios to its knees. It’s a job. One her grandmother’s health depends on. That Adam St. Eden will suffer isn’t personal. Until he awakens her sympathy and stirs her body in ways she can’t explain.
Adam wants one thing and one thing only – to protect the dream his grandfather began. But when the board demands he work with stunning Yvette, a woman he’d mistakenly indulged with in a little after-hours play, his world turns upside down. Missed meetings, unhappy clients, and nights of intense pleasure – he can blame one person. Yvette.
With his corporation crumbling around him, can Adam rise above the fallout and see his sexy temptress for what she really is – a victim of manipulation and a woman who desperately needs his love?I’m working on a paranormal romance with shape shifters, a sequel to Tempting Adam, and a short story with a divorced couple trying to find their way back together.
Is there anything you want to tell readers?
Yes, we love to hear from you. Let us know how we are doing. Twitter and Facebook connect with us, leave reviews to let us know if you liked our books and even when you don’t. We need feedback to know we are connecting.
Here's an excerpt of Tempting Adam:
Yvette pulled herself together with a jolt.
It’s a job. It’s a job.
She repeated the mantra in her head in an endless loop, gazing into deep, blue eyes. This close, she noticed the subtle lines near his eyes from his outdoor living. If he had grown up in Hollywood, he would have had a facelift or two by now, instead of the natural look he pulled off quite well.
Adam helped her rise, his warm hand cupping her elbow. A tingle shot from her arm, to her chest, and to regions much farther south. A sexual moan almost escaped her lips. Yvette shook her head to clear the mental images of her and him and the hotel room. It didn’t help. Memories of that night still had the power to stir her senses. They hit Yvette in a place she didn’t think existed—her emotions.
His eyes darkened to indigo, and he leaned nearer. His fresh, evergreen scent enveloped her.
Her head swam, and she tilted on the heels of her shoes. She berated herself for her juvenile behavior, unable to believe the She-shark of business might have met her match. At least in the sexual arena.
Adam wrapped an arm around her shoulders, led her to the bench outside the door, and sat beside her. “I hope you’re doing okay. I would’ve found you a seat inside, but they were getting back to work. I didn’t want anything else to delay the work schedule.”
Disbelief flooded Yvette while she replayed what had just happened. She needed to get a grip on herself and this job. Adam was nice enough overall, and was great—make that fantastic—in bed.
However, he was no ruthless businessman and knew next to nothing about Hollywood. He wasn’t the first CEO she’d taken down, and he wouldn’t be the last.
It wasn’t personal.
Thanks for being my guest Jill, and Tempting Adam sounds absolutely delicious.
Tell us a little about yourself.
Sure, and thanks for having me here! I write paranormal, contemporary and erotic romance (genre-hopper, here!) and have books coming out in all three over the coming months. I live in
15 years come this October and have two daughters, ages 7 and almost 5, and one bad dog.
What do like the most and the least about writing?
I love the creativity of it and how, every time I sit down to the computer, something new happens. I love those moments in your story when something totally unexpected happens with your characters or plot. And,
I especially love writing “Th
e End” on the last page
of a draft—it’s completely thrilling! Not to mention, what’s more satisfying than hearing people’s response to your writing? Granted, the negative reviews can be hard to hear, but more often than not people respond with enthusiasm and excitement, and it’s like eating the finest chocolate! LOL I probably least like that I don’t have as much time to devote to writing as I’d like. Oh, and I hate writing synopses! *grimaces*
Give us a peek into your latest published work?
My heart may not beat, but that doesn’t mean it’s not broken.
After an isolated century mourning the murder of my long-ago family, I crave the irresistible scents of joy and love that radiate from my new neighbors, a single mother and her young daughter. I’m starved for their blood, and for the healing respite from my ancient grief that will accompany drinking down their life-giving emotions. Now to lure them in.
But they surprise me. Little Olivia accepts me without fear or reservation—talking, smiling, offering innocent affection that tugs at my long-lost humanity. Her mother, Samantha, seeks me out when she should stay away, offering sweet f
riendship, and calling to
the forgotten man in me. They lure me in.
Aw, Dio, Lucien, run and spare them while you can…
What’s next on the writing horizon for you?
The first thing I have to do is revise the women’s fiction manuscript I completed in January. It needed some time to simmer, and now I’m really excited to come back to it! The next new thing I’ll be writing is book two in the fantasy romance series based on the Greek Anemoi (directional wind gods associated with the seasons) I just sold to Entangled Publishing. Book one, North of Need, comes out November 2011.
Is there anything you want to tell readers?
Just, thank you, thank you to everyone who buys, reads, reviews! To me, books are a partnership between authors and readers, so I have mad love for readers!
Excerpt from Forever Freed:
She stepped forward again and stood just at my knees.
I watched her movements with wonder and need. The atmosphere between us thickened and sparked. Samantha looked up at me shyly, but with clear purpose.
“Lucien?
”
“Hmm?” I gripped the edge of the table lest I reach out and pull her flush against my body.
She leaned in further and placed her fingertips on my kn
ees. Electrical impulses ripped up my thighs and settled into the thick organ between my legs.
“Kiss me?”
My breath caught in my throat. My original plan for her made it blasphemous for me to consider accepting her affection. But I wanted it desperately. Wanted her.
We leaned towards one another. I strained to be vigilant in my control. I met her lips tenderly, not wanting to take more risk than I already was. But then she took another step forward and fit herself tight between my legs. She moved her hands to my shoulders. Her heart hammered between our chests.
I needed to be careful, but I had to hold her. I released the table’s edge and wound my hands around her, tangling one in the soft, fine hair behind her head and snaking the other around her narrow waist. Her life thrummed in my arms. I had gone so long without affectionate touch that this felt beyond miraculous. It was simply irresistible.
I was so hungry for her, but not for her blood. I deepened the kiss and stroked my tongue
with need and want against hers. Exploring her mouth with abandon, I groaned at the sweetness of her taste and thrilled at being inside of her.
Oh,
dolcezza. The taste of her joy, her vivacious personality, the way she loved Ollie, her acceptance of me—everything about her bespoke her sweetness. Her heat seared me. I pulled her in tighter and relished the throb of her pulse against my skin.
She moaned. Her hands found my hair, stroking, pulling, fisting. Had my eyes been open they would have rolled back into my head. Hot feelings of ecstasy roared out of her and into me, and I groaned as I struggled to keep my fangs from stretching out. I pursued her touch, her kiss, again and again. She returned what I gave her with equal fervor.
Minutes passed before she finally pulled away. I released her reluctantly and smiled when she bit her lower lip and grinned up at me. I tasted her happiness and her exhilaration,
but some of what I was feeling was my own. And that was a miracle.
Find Laura on the interwebz:
Website: http://www.LauraKayeAuthor.com
Blog: http://laurakayeauthor.blogspot.com
Faceboo
k: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/laurakayeauthor
Twitter: @laurakayeauth
or
Publisher Website: http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=800
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3703867
Laura also shared her trading cards:
Lately there's been a lot of talk about e-publishing and self-publishing. I know nothing about self-publishing so I'm not going to address that. I do know something about e-publishing and thought that I would do a blog post on it.
Disclaimer: I do not know everything there is to know about e-publishing or how the buisness works. What is in this blog post is only my opinion and based on my experiences.
1. Do you're homework
§ What does this mean, it means checking the publisher out to the best of your ability
o Do they have a web site?
§ All e-publishers should have a professional looking website, with information not only about the books they offer, but their submission guidelines, about the company (who is running it) and it should be free of typos and other mistakes
§ How long have they been in business?
§ Are those running the e-publishing company, do they have a business background or are they writers themselves?
· There is nothing wrong if they are writers or other publsihing individuals, my take on e-publishing is you better know how to run a business. Many may argue writers do run a business, and I'm not arguing with that, but that's a business of one, not a business of 10-20 people. I feel the publisher should have business knowleged of how to run a business and have the business background vs. a writing background
o Talk to friends and/or other authors
§ Do you know someone who has published with this e-publisher or has submitted to them. Ask them how they felt about the submission process, or are they happy with the company.
o Buy a few books from the e-publisher
§ Buy a several books from the e-publisher in the line you're targeting, if you want to sell a contemporary romance to them, then buy a few of the ones they're offering.
§ Take note of when the book was published
§ The editing of the book
§ Subject matter: plot, conflict, characters
· Note: When looking at the editing of the book, take note of the date of publication. If this book was one of the first published, there maybe some editing mistakes. I've have found this, but as time goes on the editing as well as the quality of the books improve.
2. Okay, you've done all your homework and this looks like the e-publisher for you.
§ Follow their submission guidelines
§ Make note of how long they say it will take for them to respond to you
§ Follow up when/if necessary
3. Contracts, Royalities, Promotion
· Contracts
o Contracts can be a tricky thing. If you can find out the royaity rate before you're offered a contract that is great. Some e-publishers list it right on their websites others do not.
§ Very low end offer is 20% and at the high end 45%, there is nothing wrong with either, it has to be your decision on what you're willing to take. Note: if your dealing with some of the NY houses your e-book royality rate can be very low, make the decision that is best for you and you may not be able to change it
o Watch for reversion rights and first right of refusal or option clause:
§ I've seen reversion rights from 1 year to life of the copyright make sure you understand what your reversion rights are and you're willing to let your work be with the publisher for that period of time
§ First right of refusal or option clauses – this is where the publisher has the right to…this can depend on the publisher, some the first right of refusal or option clause says they have the first right of refusal on the next book you write with these characters or any character that appear in the book, others say they have the first right of refusal on any book you write.
· Please read this very carefully because if you sign a contract that says "X publisher has first right of refusal on any book you write." You are now tied up with that publisher for life. They have the right of first refusal on any book you write not matter what it is.
· Limit the clause as much as you can, if you have to have one in the contract to such as:
o First right of refusal on any book with these same characters or of the secondary characters
o First right of refusal on next contemporary romance under 40,000 words
4. Promotion
· Most publishers now rely on authors to do their own promotions, there is no different between NY and e-publishers on this, at minimum:
o Author website
· You'll hear stories about how the publishers are asking more and more from their authors in promotion, and this is true. But we are in a digital world with more and more social networking. Because brick and mortar stores are disappearing at a rapid rate you have to think outside the box. I'm not big on promotion myself, I find it very intemidating, but if you can thinking about having the following:
o Author website – a must for readers to find you and your books
o Blog – be it with a group or alone, group blogs are fun because you don't have to post every day
o Facebook – I don't know how effective it is, but I do have an author page on facebook along with a regular facebook page. I only post when it's important, I don't do daily posts
o Goodreads, Library Thing, etc: These are all booksites and they can be good for connecting with readers
o Ads – depending on the publisher you maybe able to get into what's called co-op ads. This is where authors split the cost of an ad. But if your publisher doesn't have this don't stress and don't spend tons of money for one.
· The best promotion advice I ever received was:
o Look at what you have time to do and what you don't. Do what you have time to do. This is so true, I try really hard to keep up with everything, but there are not enough hours in the day, because I have a full-time day job.
5. Becoming PAN with Romance Writers of America (RWA)
o For those of you who don't know Romance Writers of America has a group of author who belong to PAN – Published Author Network. To qualify for PAN you must either have received a $1,000 advance from the publisher on one book or made $1,000 worth of sales on one book in one year.
o Many believe this is a critial step in their career. I don't. PAN isn't the end-all-be-all for me. I want to write books, I want people to read my books, I want to sell my books. While I would love to sell enough of one book to make that $1,000 threshold, it doesn't mean I'm not successful without it.
o This is a decision you need to make as an author
6. Look at your goals and expectations in relation to your career
· Your goals and expectations are not going to be the same as mine are or as your writing friends are. A romance writer will have different expectations and goals than a Mystery writer, or a science fiction writer.
· Evaulate what you want not what you're friends are doing or what they want for you
o When I decided to submit to an e-publisher I did it because I knew I needed to do more for my career. I researched them and found one that I felt worked for me and submitted. Did I want to sell books? Yes. Did I want to earn money? Oh yes. Did I think I was going to earn enough to quit the day job? No.
o I looked at where I wanted to go in my career and what my 5 year business plan was and evulated what I could do
E-publishing is not for everyone. There are still who are bias against e-publishers and e-books, and that's okay. The world is changing, the digital world especially. Many print publishers are playing catch up in this digital world.
I still love holding a print book in my hands, but that hasn't stopped me from buying a digital e-book reader or buying e-books. I enjoy both and probably always will.
No matter what you decide to do, do what is best in your opinion and based on your career goals.
