New Music Page: The Loving on the Edge Playlists

At the Marilyn Manson concert in Vegas

So I've been wanting to do this for a while, but knew it was going to be a bit of a project and needed to wait until I had some time to dedicate to it. Finally, this weekend I was able to put it together. 

Music has always been a big part of my life and it definitely plays a big role in my writing. I can't write in silence, so I listen to a wide variety of songs while I'm writing. But there are particular ones that stand out in my mind has linked to certain stories or characters or scenes. So I've put together playlists for my series so far, including:

• Songs that inspired stories or scenes
• Character Anthems
• The Dark and Sexy Stuff (i.e. what I imagine playing in the background of the smexy scenes. These are not your typical romance songs because who wants to get flogged to Celine Dion? Though, now that I think about it, that could make for a funny scene.)
• The Romantic Stuff (the Happily Ever After anthems)

So I hope you'll check out the list.

And in the comments, I'd love to hear what songs are intrinsically tied to one of your stories or characters. 

Me...On Deadline & an Exclusive Snippet from FALL INTO YOU

First, I want to apologize that blogs have been few and far between lately. But I have a good excuse.

Imagine doing NaNoWriMo two months back to back.

Yeah. That.

Me the last two months...

I've got two weeks until deadline. If I'm still alive at the end of it, I promise to return here with bells on and new posts. : ) Thanks for being patient and sticking around.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek from FALL INTO YOU (my January release):

His expression remained placid, but the flare in his eyes said he was anything but. “Finish your sentence.”

She cringed but forced her vocal cords to work. “The thought made me mad. And jealous.”

He seemed to consider that for a moment, his head tilting ever so slightly. “Interesting. Kneel down.”

She responded in an instant and attempted to rock down gracefully. Her knees hit the polished wood floors with barely a sound. Yeah, buddy. She fought back a proud smile.

He nodded in approval as he walked a slow circle around her, like an animal sizing up its prey. He stopped in front of her again. “Very nice. Get used to holding that kneel.”

“Yes, sir.”

He stepped back a few feet but continued to watch her as he slipped his suit coat off his shoulders—a slow, fluid motion of a man in no hurry. He folded the jacket and laid it neatly over the arm of the couch, smoothing out an errant wrinkle. Next, he pulled at the knot on his tie, the soft silk-against-silk sound the only noise in the room. His movements stayed methodical, deliberate—his stare unyielding. With each removed item, Charli found her heartbeat ticking up a notch. She moistened her lips. Was he going to take off everything? Was she finally going to get to see all of him, touch him?

He ran the silk tie over his palm with an oh-the-things-I-could- do look on his face, and she could almost feel its smoothness against her own skin. What would it feel like against her wrists, her ankles? But he laid it across his suit coat, leaving it unused. His long fingers went to his cuff links and he unfastened the buttons at his wrists. Clink. Clink. The cuff links hit the glass side table, startling Charli.

Grant gave her a wicked smile as he rolled the sleeves of his white dress shirt up his forearms. “Am I making you nervous, Charlotte?”

“Yes.”

“Smart girl. Your instincts are better than your brother gives you credit for.”  

Read the first chapter or  Pre-Order the Book

*Excerpt Copyright 2012 Roni Loren - All Rights Reserved Berkley Publishing Group

Revealing 3 New Covers and the Reasons for the Change

The wait is over!

So I've been hinting at it for a few weeks, but today is the day I finally get to reveal my new covers and the new look of the Loving on the Edge series!

I'm over at the USA Today Happily Ever After blog with the reveal and the reasons behind the changes. And how it has everything AND nothing to do with the 50 Shades trend. : )

So please, stop by, comment, tell me what you think! I want to hear from you.

*If you have trouble commenting there because it requires a FB account, feel free to comment here. : )

Book Deal Squee-ing: More Loving on the Edge On the Way!

My awesome new stamp for bookplates

Every day I realize how lucky I am to do this whole writing thing for a living. But it's one of those jobs that's always a bit of a crap shoot. You never know how people are going to receive your stories or if they're going to be successful or if you're going to keep getting to do it.

Therefore, each time I get to sign on the dotted line to write more books, I don't take it for granted. So thank you to each and every one of you who have bought my books and enjoyed them. You're the reason I'm going to be writing more stories from The Ranch all the way through 2014. : )

Books five and six have sold! 

October 3, 2012
		Fiction: Women's/Romance		Roni Loren's next two books in her LOVING ON THE EDGE series, revolving around The Ranch - a private BDSM club in Texas, again to Kate Seaver at Berkley Heat, for publication in 2014, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary Agency (World).

This means that 2014 will bring you the stories of both Kade Vandergriff (who you meet in STILL INTO YOU and get to see more of in FALL INTO YOU in January) and Colby Wilkes (who shows up subtly in almost every book and has a bigger role in FALL INTO YOU). I can't wait to write the stories for these two. Dates are still floating around but Kade's story will be first, most likely in the Spring of 2014 and Colby's story will be in the fall. (And to see what celebrities I imagine for Kade and Colby inspiration, check out the bottom of my Ranch page.)

AND for those of you who may not be in the States or Canada, rights to CRASH INTO YOU and MELT INTO YOU have sold in the UK and CRASH has sold in France. Woot! So hopefully those editions will be on shelves in the next year or two. : )

Also, big cover news is on the way. I've been talking about it on Twitter, but I'm hoping to share the new covers with y'all in the next few weeks!

That's all for now! 

The New Adult Genre: Here To Stay This Time?

Image via CollegeDegrees360 (flickr cc)A while back, I think in late 2009, there were rumblings of this new genre called New Adult. This genre would cover an age group often ignored in fiction--the 18-25 year old protagonist. In theory, it was supposed to fill in the gap between Young Adult fiction and Adult fiction. St. Martin's even came out with a call for that type of book. It felt like it was going to be a "thing". I remember all this distinctly because my friend, Julie Cross, had written a book that had college-aged protags (Tempest) and ended up publishing with St. Martin's.

But after that initial buzz about the genre, I didn't hear too much more about it for a while. Personally, I was kind of disappointed because I really like the idea of stories about that age group. So much happens to us in those years--it's rife with the drama of transitioning from childhood to adulthood, figuring out who you are, who you want to be, etc. All the good angsty things that can create good fiction. Plus, you can be a little more flexible with your characters because you don't have to worry as much about the rules that apply to YA fiction. So I was hoping it would get more traction than it did at the time.

Then, just when I thought the idea has faded into the background, 50 Shades happened. 

Yes, most of the buzz about 50 Shades is about the "erotic" parts. But honestly, that part was nothing new. Erotic romance, and specifically BDSM erotic romance, has been around for a long, long time. And has been a thriving sub genre for at least a decade. What was different about 50 Shades was that it was basically erotic YA. Yes, yes, the heroine is in her 20s but it READS like a teen character. (And that makes sense considering it was originally Twilight fan fiction.)

So back in March when I was chatting with agent Sara and YA author Mari Mancusi about 50 Shades at a conference, I jokingly predicted that the next big thing was going to be erotic YA. That's what I thought the book was tapping into.

And holy crap, you know what? I was kind of right. (That never happens.) Except it's not YA, it's New Adult. In the past, it's kind of been a touchy area--18-20 somethings having smexy times in a book, but now it's everywhere. It's a "thing". Look at the books that have done really well post-50 Shades: Bared to You by Sylvia Day (heroine is fresh out of college, starting her first job), Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (college student I believe), Beth Kery's Because You Are Mine (heroine is right out of college), On Dublin Street  by Samantha Young which I'm reading right now (heroine fresh out of college.) I also read Sheltered by Charlotte Stein earlier this year and it was in the same vein. I know there are many more, but that's just the ones off the top of my head.

Of course, these also have another theme in common--the older, more experienced guy. But that's nothing new to the romance genre. Most historical romances have that dynamic. And even in my books, I usually have a more experienced guy (usually meaning more experienced in BDSM) even if the age difference between the hero and the heroine may not be big. 

AND by total coincidence (seriously, I pitched this idea before this trend started rolling), my e-serial tentatively titled NOT UNTIL YOU falls into this category. The story starts on the day my heroine graduates from veterinary school. And my hero, her neighbor, definitely didn't plan to get involved with some "kid". : ) Of course, his plan doesn't go so well.

So I, for one, am excited about this trend. I always say that erotic romance and YA are my two favorite genres to read. I even started out writing YA. And it's one of the reasons I did a dual timeline in Crash Into You. Half the story is ten years earlier when she's in college, so it's actually half new adult, lol.

So this genre kind of blends what I love most about both adult romance and YA together. When it's well written, I really enjoy that coming-into-adulthood story where we get to see the insecurity and angst of being young and unsure mixed in with the ability to explore and take some risks, to act like an adult.

And with all this momentum, I'm hoping the genre is here to stay. Not just in the erotic subset but in general. Bring on the new adult!

So how do you feel about this genre? Have you read anything you'd consider New Adult? If so, what's been your favorite so far?