Cover Reveal: FIFTY FIRST TIMES: A New Adult Anthology

 

 

RELEASING FEB. 25th!!! 

You always remember your first time…                                             

Fifty First Times is a collection of fictional short stories from a variety of published Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Romance authors aimed at a New Adult audience. Each story magnifies a moment in two characters' lives that shows the reader their decision to take physical intimacy to a new level, the events leading up to this moment and in some cases, the events that follow. It’s about the couple who decides not to go through with it, the two boys who finally aren’t ashamed, the couple whose wedding night could very well be their last night together, the deaf pair who have no choice but to take body language to a new level, proving that love can exist underneath the external layers of humanity, and of course the two young people fumbling and laughing, getting everything wrong yet making a memory that will never fade.

 

19 AUTHORS, 19 STORIES

Julie Cross (creator)

J. Lynn

Molly McAdams

Sophie Jordan

Roni Loren

Tracy Wolff

Lauren Layne

Andrew Shaffer

Cole Gibson

Myra McEntire

Carrie Ryan

Mark Perini

Gennifer Albin

Lisa Desrochers

Hannah Moskowitz

Lyla Payne

Alessandra Thomas

Melissa Landers

Melissa West

 

Pre-Order Now! Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Add to your Goodreads shelf

 

Author Interview Question: What motivated you to join up with other authors for this project? Do you like collaborating with writing peers?

“Well, I started this insane projected and was hit over the head with the idea during the Romantic Times convention last year. Luckily, I was in the presence of some amazing authors and able to walk right up and pitch the idea to them. Which is literally what I did, "Fifty First Times, A New Adult Anthology...are you in?" And to my complete surprise, it totally worked. I still can't believe the authors we have onboard. And I can tell you, the stories are just fabulous. I loved every minute of reading them!” – Julie Cross, International Bestselling author of the Tempest Series and creator of Fifty First Times

“I thought the concept for the general story was so fun, and definitely something I would normally love to write anyway. The fact that it would be with a bunch of other authors sharing their stories as well just made it that much more fun. I do [enjoy collaborating with peers]! It's not something I'd ever done before this, and it was such a fun experience.” –Molly McAdams, New York Times Bestselling author

“I saw "Fifty First Times" as a unique opportunity to tell a different type of story than the fiction I'm accustomed to writing. Julie was very encouraging and helped me push the story in some interesting directions I hadn't anticipated.” –Andrew Shaffer, author of Fifty Shames of Earl Grey

“I love a challenge, and once the story idea came to me, there was no turning back. Writing it was an absolute blast!” –Melissa Landers, author of Alienated

“Anthologies are just so fun; I love the variation you see in stories all around one theme. It's a great way to highlight the strengths of individual authors. And I love collaborating! I have a co-write book coming out in 2016.” –Hannah Moskowitz, award winning author of Gone, Gone, Gone

“I was really excited to join this project because I loved the concept from the first moment I heard it. First times. Firsts are so full of intense emotions--angst and joy and fear and excitement--whether it’s someone’s first time ever or the first time with that special person. So I knew it would be a blast to write a story about—in the case of my story, “Two in the Morning"—two guys who have been best friends forever but who may be developing feelings beyond that. As for writing with this group of talented authors, what’s not to love? There are so many fresh perspectives and original concepts in this anthology that I can’t wait to read all of the other stories!” –Roni Loren, bestselling author of the Loving on the Edge series

 

Who's ready for this one? :)  

RIDING DESIRE (Bad Boy Biker Box Set) Cover Reveal!

I am deep in the deadline cave with Colby's book, but I wanted to pop in and share the cover for the biker box set I'm going to be in and the blurb for my story! Isn't it smexy?

 

 

And look at that author list, I mean, come on. This is a serious deal. 

Here's the blurb for my story. Mine is a sexy New Adult novella. But the set will contain both New Adult and Erotic Romance novellas.

 

Nice Girls Don't Ride by Roni Loren

Natalie Bourne thinks she has the perfect night planned for her twenty-first birthday. But when her car breaks down and her boyfriend bails on her, she’s left stranded in an auto shop dealing with a way too cocky, way too hot mechanic, who seems to be intent on pushing every button she has.

Monroe Hawkins knows he shouldn’t be messing with an uppity chick from the private college. Especially when he can tell she sees him as the blue-collar help. But he’s having trouble resisting the redhead with the smart mouth and the killer legs. So when Natalie’s night goes from bad to worse, there’s no way he’s letting her spend her birthday alone. He makes her a deal—he’ll take her home but not until the sun comes up.

Ten hours, one motorcycle, and the city of Austin at their fingertips…things are about to take a major detour.  And soon, there may be no U-turn in sight.

Add it to your Goodreads Want to Read pile!  

And guess what? You don't have to wait long because this collection is going to be available February 17th! As soon as it's up for order, I'll be sure to let you know! :)

Who wants to go for a ride? ;)

 

 


On Horror Writing: Stephen King's Danse Macabre

Y'all know I'm a writing book junkie. I can't seem to get enough. And typically, I gravitate toward books on structure because I'm always trying to convince my pantser self into being a plotter. However, this time I decided to pick up something a little different. 

I saw Stephen King's Danse Macabre mentioned somewhere on the interwebs and realized it wasn't a novel, but King's thoughts on horror. I needed to have it. See, I have a love of the horror genre, as that's a lot of what I grew up reading when I graduated to "grown up" books. And though I'm a big chicken in real life, I love being scared in fiction or through movies. Also, I haven't ruled out penning a horror tale--maybe even with some romance mixed in--one of these days. So I wanted to read this book.

Now, my thoughts...

King wrote this back in 1981 so it's dated and feels it. However, there is a fantastic 2010 forenote called "What's Scary" where King gives his thoughts on more recent trends in horror and lists the movies he thinks got it right. That was a great read and gave me a list of new movies to watch. 

If you've read On Writing--which is one of the best writing books out there--don't expect this to be that. This is not so much a book about how to write as it is a history of horror from King's perspective. This is a long book that goes off on a lot of tangents that feel a bit aimless at times. Someone on Goodreads described it as sitting down in a bar late one night and getting drunk with King as he riffs about the history of horror. That's exactly what it comes across like. So yes, there are nuggets of greatness in this book, but there's a lot of other stuff to sift through and it took me a while to read. Often too much time was spent on topics and examples that could've been wrapped up in many less pages.

So, if you're looking for Stephen King's advice on how to write, get On Writing and enjoy the greatness. Danse Macabre is probably more for die hard King fans and for those who grew up in his era and want to reminisce about horror movies and TV shows from the past.

However, like I said, there were some great nuggets in the book, and in the end, I'm glad I read it.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

On imagination in adulthood: "...whenever I run into someone who expresses a feeling along the lines of, "I don't read fantasy or go to any of those movies; none of it's real," I feel a kind of sympathy. They simply can't lift the weight of fantasy. The muscles of the imagination have grown too weak." --Stephen King, Danse Macabre

On the duty of literature: "...the primary duty of literature--to tell us the truth about ourselves by telling us lies about people who never existed." --Stephen King, Danse Macabre

On the definition of "gothic" literature (which I appreciated because the definition is often hard to pin down for me): "They are all books where the past eventually becomes more important than the present." --Stephen King, Danse Macabre

On horror involving homes/houses: "...horror fiction is a cold touch in the midst of the familiar, and good horror fiction applies this cold touch with sudden, unexpected pressure. When we go home and shoot the bolt on the door, we like to think we're locking trouble out. The good horror story about the Bad Place whispers that we are not locking the world out; we are locking ourselves in...with them." --Stephen King, Danse Macabre

On the role of power in fantasy fiction: "...all fantasy fiction is essentially about the concept of power; great fantasy fiction is about people who find it at great cost or lose it tragically; mediocre fantasy fiction is about people who have it and never lose it but simply wield it." --Stephen King, Danse Macabre

On Writers: "The novelist is, after all, God's liar, and if he does his job well, keeps his head and courage, he can sometimes find the truth that lives at the center of the lie." --Stephen King, Danse Macabre

Our job as writers (he specifies writers of fantasy but I think this can apply to all fiction): "The imagination is an eye, a marvelous third eye that floats free. As children, that eye sees with 20/20 clarity. As we grow older, its vision begins to dim...The job of the fantasy writer, or the horror writer, is to bust the walk of that tunnel vision wide for a little while; to provide a single powerful spectacle for the third eye. The job of the fantasy-horror writer is to make you, for a little while, a child again." --Stephen King, Danse Macabre

Good stuff, yeah?

Has anyone else read this one? Any other horror lovers out there?

Exciting Stuff Coming in 2014 - Books, Novellas, Multi-Author Projects, Oh, My!

Made by reader Kylie

One of the requests I get most from you, my dear amazing readers, is one of the best I can think of: We want more stories. The wait between books is too long. 

Hearing that makes me happy because that means *insert Sally Fields moment* you like what you're reading from me. THANK YOU. But on the flipside, putting out more than two full-length novels a year is tough (and I put out 3 this past year if you count the serial as novel) because I write long books and I'm not one of those 5k words a day writers no matter how hard I try to be. I've gotten a lot faster but quality will always be my number one focus.  

So I've been looking for ways to provide you with more short form stories throughout the year in between the full-length novels. As much as I love writing the long books (boy, do I love that), I also find short stories and novellas so much fun because I can hone in on the main romance and conflict between the characters without a lot of subplots getting in the way. It's a snapshot of their lives. Fast-paced and sexy.

So, having said all that, I've got lots of fun stuff to share with you. : )  

Here's what's happening so far in 2014:

  • February 25th - FIFTY FIRST TIMES - This is a new adult anthology about (you guessed it) first times. (You can read an excerpt from my story "Two In the Morning") I'm so excited about this anthology. Dude, the list of authors is epic, including some of the biggest names in New Adult and YA. (Somehow they let me the romance writer in, lol.) And it's like 600 pages long--all for 2.99. Come on, that's a freaking steal.
  • Also in February - I'll be in a Alpha Bad Boy Biker box set with a kickass group of authors. Mine will be a short sexy novella with New Adult vibe about what else--a sexy biker. I'll release more details once the cover is finalized. :) 
  • March 4 - Kade will finally be here. NEED YOU TONIGHT releases! I'm so thrilled to finally put Kade's story out in the world. I try not to pick favorite heroes because the others get jealous, but...  (Read the first chapter.)
  • Starting in April (my novella out in August 12) - Invitation to Eden: a continuity series (meaning they all happen in the same world/place but each novella is by a different author). I'll give more details when I can release a cover.

 

Eden, where anything…and everything goes!

MARCH 31: Lauren Hawkeye free series prequel

APRIL 15 : Julia KentAvery Aster , Adriana Hunter

MAY 13: Sharon PageSuzanne RockMarian Tee

JUNE 17: Sara FawkesEliza GayleCathryn Fox

JULY 15: Carly PhillipsErika WildeDaire St. Denis

AUGUST 12Karen EricksonMari Carr, Roni Loren

SEPTEMBER 16: Lauren HawkeyeEden BradleyOpal Carew

OCTOBER 14: Delilah DevlinKimberly Kaye TerryTawny Stokes

NOVEMBER 4: Steena HolmesCC MacKenzieJulie Kenner/J.Kenner

DECEMBER 2: Joey W. HillRG AlexanderSarah Castille

 

  • Summer/Early Fall - A Loving on the Edge novella (details as soon as I can officially release them, but it *may* involve previous characters *hint, hint*)   
  • November - NOT UNTIL YOU (my e-serial) out in paperback! *confetti gun*  Thank you to all of you who bought the serial because those sales convinced the publisher to put out a complete version in print. Yay! So for those of you who didn't want to read it in serial format will now have an option and those who wanted on your shelves because you're collecting the series, you'll have it. : ) 
  • NOTHING BETWEEN US (Colby's Story) - Release date will be announced as soon as I know it. : )

 

Whew, that's all for now. In other news, I may not see the sun for a while. *types furiously*

Hope you have a great weekend!

The Push Your Boundaries Reading Challenge 2014

So if you've followed me for a while, you know I love a reading challenge. For the past two years, I've done the 50/50 Challenge (50 movies and 50 books in a year) and I've kept track of it here and on Pinterest. This year I also did the Dusty Bookshelf Challenge to try to encourage me to read stuff I already own instead of only the new, shiny books I buy. 

I like these kinds of challenges because it helps me keep track of what I read (and watch, in the case of the 50/50 challenge) and it pushes me a little. BUT, as I was looking at my list of books I've read this year, I realized I'm very homogenous when it comes to genres. Obviously, I love romance and in particular, erotic romance, New Adult, Young Adult, and m/m romance. That's the bulk of my reading pile. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's what I like to read (and write.)

But I also know that as a writer, I am what I consume. Inspiration is found in the things I expose myself to--movies, books, art, experiences, travel, etc. That's what's going to influence me. And if I'm swimming in the same pool with my reading all the time, I'm missing out on the chance to broaden my influences, to see things in a different way, and to think more outside the box with my writing.

So, I'm creating my own personal reading challenge this year, and I'm inviting you to customize one for yourself and join me. : )  I'm challenging myself to read outside of my boundaries in addition to my favorites. So I made a chart and listed levels of "comfort zones" then I selected genres to put in the boxes. By the end of 2014, I want to X out each of these boxes with at least one book from that particular genre.

As you can see in the chart, I have six rows of "zones": In My Zone, Read on Occasion, A Bit of a Stretch, Pushing It, Out of Comfort Zone, and Just For Fun.

I have 36 genres listed, but feel free to make yours as big as small as you want. Maybe you just want to list one genre in each of the six categories. Or maybe you're a power reader and want to add more than me. Also, know that everyone's chart will look different because what's comfort zone to me is going to be different for you.

But hopefully you can use my chart as a jumping off point.

If you want the chart in Excel so you can edit and plug in your own goals, you can download it here. (I created this in Mac Numbers so there may be some formatting differences. If it shows up as two worksheets, click on the bottom tab that says blank calendar and that will show you the chart.)
 

 

So who's with me?

Let me know in the comments if you decide to participate and leave a link to how you're keeping track if you have it (link from your blog, Pinterest, Tumblr, whatever.) 

I'll be pinning the books I read and keeping track on my Push Your Boundaries Pinterest Board. If you make your own board feel free to Pin this post on it and remember to leave your link to it in the comments! :) 

Follow Roni Loren's board The Push Your Boundaries Reading Challenge on Pinterest.

Follow Roni Loren's board The Push Your Boundaries Reading Challenge on Pinterest.

 

Some ideas for genres to include (and please add your own suggestions for categories/genres in the comments because I know I've missed some!):

Historical mystery - Romantic Suspense - Made Into A Movie - Urban Fantasy - Dystopian - Memoir/Bio -LGBT - Action/Adventure - Humor - Award Winning - True Crime - Erotic Romance/Erotica - Horror - Gothic - Travel - M/M Romance - Non-Fiction - On Writing - Literary Fiction - Anthology - Translated - Mystery - Historical Fiction - Young Adult - New Adult - Historical Romance - Fantasy - Sci-Fi/Speculative - Thriller - Classic - Banned Book - Re-read From Childhood - Debut Author - First in Series - Middle Grade - Picture Book - Graphic Novel - Book From Your Birth Year - Loved By Others - A 500+ Pager - Audiobook - Second Chance on a DNF - Road Trip Story - Set Outside of the U.S./UK/Canada - Self-Help - A Book That Intimidates You - A Book Written By the Opposite Sex - Inspirational Fiction - Retro Romance (70s-80s) - Paranormal - Women's Fiction - Short Story