Week 2 of #ListifyLife: The Books I'd Want to Live In For a While

It's week 2 of the Listify Life challenge (you can still join in!) and this week's topic is choosing the books you'd want to live in for a while. 

There are so many more I could choose, but I decided to go with the first ones that popped up in my head. Many of them go back to childhood wishes for fantastical worlds with flying and magic. :) The other two are grown-up picks.

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - I'm not sure this needs explanation. I have to admit when I went to Universal Studios to Harry Potter world, I got little kid style excitement. Plus, Butter Beer.

2. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende - If you're not familiar with this story, it's about a boy reading a book who gets pulled into the book and literally becomes part of the book. This whole concept was so magical to me as a kid--that thought that I could become part of the story. And really, do I need any other reason than the chance to ride Falcor the Luck Dragon?

3. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle - my favorite book as a kid and the book that made me want to be a writer, so it has to get a spot

4. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Okay, so the lack of showers, low status of women, and the constant threat of being killed would suck. But then there's Jamie in a kilt...or, you know, out of it. :)

via GIPHY

5. My own Loving on the Edge books - Okay, this is a totally self-indulgent pick. But how cool would it be to walk into that world and meet characters I created and see The Ranch? Okay, so it'd be weird...but also, awesome. :)

So those are mine. Are you playing along? Which books would you pick?

I'm a Double RITA Award Finalist!!!!!

So I totally had another post planned today and I was going to tell you about this great book I just read, BUT my brain cells are now only operating at half-capacity because I got the call today that I'm a double nominee for a RITA® Award (the romance writer's version of the Oscars)!!!!

BREAK ME DOWN is nominated in the erotic romance category!

and

NICE GIRLS DON'T RIDE is nominated in the novella category!

I'm over the moon excited. My morning has mostly consisted of this: 

The Carlton Dance - snap you fingas!! in #happy

and this...

GIF in #excited

Here's the list of all the nominees if you want to go on a book buying binge. I know I'm going to be doing that, lol.

Now I have to go shop for a fancy dress for the San Diego conference. :D

Have a great holiday weekend, y'all! 

COVER REVEAL! - Loving You Easy

The cover for LOVING YOU EASY, the next book in the Loving on the Edge series, is here!

And here's the blurb:

Three lovers really click in the latest from the New York Times bestselling author of Call on Me— 

Cora has an amazing sex life. She’s beautiful, daring, and the most popular submissive in Hayven. Too bad none of it’s real... 

IT specialist Cora Benning has figured out the key to her formerly disastrous love life—make it virtual. In the online world of Hayven, she’s free of her geek girl image and can indulge her most private fantasies with a sexy, mysterious master without anyone in her life discovering her secrets. Until her information is hacked and she finds herself working to fix the breach under two very powerful men—one who seems all too familiar...

Best friends and business partners Ren Muroya and Hayes Fox were once revered dominants. Then Hayes was wrongfully sent to prison and everything changed. Ren wants to get back to who they were. Hayes can’t risk it. But when they discover the new IT specialist is their online fascination, and that she’s never felt a dominant’s touch, the temptation to turn virtual into reality becomes all too great…

This one will be out in September. What do you think? I love the colors of the cover and that it's fiber optics, which ties to the meeting online theme of the book. :)

The book can be pre-ordered from Amazon and B&N. Other retailers should be available soon as well.

Big Book Sale at Samhain Publishers

There was sad news last week about Samhain, one of the first e-publishers, winding down their business to eventually close up shop. This was sad on a number of levels. First, I know many authors who write for Samhain, and I'm sad for them. But secondly, over the years I have gotten great books from Samhain and discovered many new authors, so I'm sad that I won't have that resource anymore. They were one of the first publishers to get behind erotic romance and gay romance. They were on the cutting edge and discovered a lot of talent. If you go through their list of authors, you'll see a lot of names of authors who have gone on to be big names, particularly in my genre of erotic romance.

But the publishing industry is constantly in flux and smaller publishers have gotten hit hard. HOWEVER, you can still get Samhain books and support their authors. AND they're running a big 40% sale right now if you buy through their site. I'm not sure how long the sale will last, but I can tell you I bought 8 books yesterday and that took restraint to only buy that many. So go over and get you some.

If you're wondering who I bought, I grabbed some Megan Hart, Barbara Elsborg Amy Jo Cousins, ZA Mayfield, and A.M Arthur--all authors I've read and enjoyed in the past. I also picked up a couple new-to-me authors. You can see some of the ones I bought in the pic of my bookshelf above. But there are also books by Maya Banks, Lorelei James, Lauren Dane, Beth Kery, Heidi Cullinan, etc. I already had a lot of those so didn't need to buy them, but you may want to check them out.

If you love erotic romance, contemporary romance, gay romance, horror, or suspense, they'll probably have something for you.

Happy hunting!

*These are not affiliate links. Just passing along the info.

Which Books Made You a Romance Reader?

Today in the Author Life Month Instagram challenge, the topic was "A favorite book outside of your genre." I ended up picking the books that made me want to become a writer: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle and The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.

I read both around 4th or 5th grade, and though I was already an avid reader by then (there was much Babysitter's Club consumed), those were the first books I remember sweeping me away completely. I felt transported to a new world and experienced that unique magic only books give you access to. And I knew then--I need to do this. 

But this week I also saw this Harlequin ad that made me smile.

Go ahead and watch, but it's the journey of a girl discovering her mom's romance novels and then getting hooked for life and passing that addiction along. Really sweet. And very true for many of us. Most romance readers I talk to have had similar experiences of stealing their mother's or another relative's books and "sneaking" them. Is there really anything better than a kid sneaking books? Sure, maybe some content is a little older than our parents wanted us to read. But being unable to resist reading is a pretty awesome thing.

For me, my mom wasn't a romance reader per se. She has always read more suspense and mystery, though many of those were romantic suspense. But I do distinctly remember what books I "stole" from her. The Flowers in the Attic series by V.C. Andrews. I still have the actual copy I stole because I haven't ever given it back, lol.

They are not romance. They are family saga and tragic and gothic. BUT there was romance in there and love scenes. That was very eye-opening to me at an innocent fourteen years old. "They can write this in books?!" Of course, I was hooked, lol. I think I read every series V.C. Andrews had at the time after that. And my mom, to her credit, let me read what I want. I mean, I was already reading Stephen King at that age so I'd jumped to adult books anyway.

But that opened the door to reading romance for me. I bought a few teen romances. Here's one I found in my mom's attic from 1993. :)

In adult books, I stuck to more romantic suspense and the occasional vampire book. I honestly didn't know there was this whole enormous world of romance. But in adulthood, I discovered the richness of the romance genre and how many subgenres were out there. The obsession was born. So I've been playing catch up ever since. :) 

So now I want to know yours. What book made you a romance reader? Or what book made you fall in love with reading?