Is That the Sound of My Dream Coming True? CRASH INTO YOU is out!!!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog to say...

CRASH INTO YOU is out!!!!!!!!


Woo-hoo! The dream I've had since I wrote that horrible New Kids on the Block fan fiction novel at 15 has finally come true. :) A book that I wrote is actually on the shelves.

Thank you to everyone of you who has been here along the way on this journey with me! I love y'all more than cupcakes. :)

And for those of you who are buying CRASH, *too tight hugs* and I hope you enjoy it!

(And remember to take a picture with your book or ebook version with your best Blue Steel face and get a chance to win a gift certificate, plus get a signed bookplate and be featured in a kickass blogging slideshow!)

Also, I'm over at Seductive Musings today with an EXCLUSIVE steamy excerpt and a post about being a fearless as opposed to a hopeless romantic. Would love it if y'all stopped by! :)

*off to happy dance and stalk the local bookstores so I can spot my book on their shelves*

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

"Hot and romantic, with an edge of suspense that will keep you entertained.” --Shayla Black, New York Times Bestselling author of SURRENDER TO ME

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

CRASH INTO YOU is now available!
Read an excerpt here.

All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2012 |Copyright Statement|

Fill-Me-In-Friday - The Best Writing Links of the Week!

 

It's that time of week where I round up my favorite posts (and shamelessly re-pimp my own). Hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

 

On Writing and Publishing:

Writers Must Write First by Susan Kaye Quinn

The Number One Overlooked Skill for Every Author by Writer Unboxed

Reasons Not To Self-Publish in 2011-2012 at The Millions

Platform and Social Media Must Not Be Your Center by Jane Friedman

The New Media Melee - 5 Indisputable Truths of Author Marketing by Idyll Conversation

Can SEO Help You Sell More Books? by The Creative Penn

Is the Traditional Book Dead? by Jim Devitt

My Twitter Retweeting Policy by John Scalzi

Are You Blogging to the Wrong Audience? by Meghan Ward

When Do Readers Trust You? by C. Hope Clark

What You May Have Missed Here: 

 

by Sierra Godfrey
What You Missed on the Author Blog:
Those were some of my favorites, what were some of yours?

 

 

 

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

 

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

 

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Links of the Week

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I'm currently in a carb coma, but I tried to be lucid enough to give you my favorite links of the week. :)

 

Enjoy!

On Writing and Publishing:

How I Went From Writing 2k a Day to 10k a Day by Rachel Aaron (don't know if I can pull off 10k a day, but great tips)

A Social Media Survival Guide by Jenn Reese (LOVE the idea of everyone having their own guide and to not put your own expectations on others.)

How To Build a Blog Following From the Ground Up by Jody Hedlund

Amazon Reader Reviews: 12 Things Everybody and Their Grandmother Needs to Know by Anne R. Allen

Ten Things I Dislike About Your Blog by Story Siren

For Gits and Shiggles:

Five Things Romance Writers Should Know About Vaginas by Kat Latham

VIDEO: An argument via Siri. (This one is R-rated for language, so be warned it's NSFW). Found via Allison Pang's Blog

 


 

What You May Have Missed on the Author Blog:

 

What You May Have Missed Here:
by Suzanne Johnson

Favorite Tumblr of the Week:
Ryan Gosling in the rain, click here for more wet Ryan pics :)
Oh, and did you hear my news?
CRASH INTO YOU was given 4 stars by RT Book Reviews Magazine!
"After reading Loren's book of bondage and love, readers will race out for their own handcuffs and whips."
Yeah, buddy. :) AND I've been interviewed in Writer's Digest magazine's Breaking In section. So if you pick up a copy, check it out! :)
Hope everyone has a great weekend! (Unless you're an Arkansas football fan. Then I hope you have a really bad Friday. ;) Geaux Tigers!)


 

 

 

 

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

 

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

 


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

 

Debut-a-Phobia: The Fear of People Actually Reading Your Book

 So I'm officially about a month and a half out from CRASH INTO YOU's release. I can't even tell you how excited I am. My book is finally going to be on shelves! It feels like forever since I signed the deal in October 2010. (Though in some ways, it feels like only yesterday.)

 

But I have to say one of the other emotions I'm going through is the occasional freak out that -- oh crap, real people are actually going to READ my book. This particular freak out is littered with any number of insecurities. Mainly, what if everyone hates it? What if my agent and editor were just having an off day when they decided they loved my book? What if it only sells twenty copies, the amount my family will probably buy?

Oh, and speaking of family, here comes oh-crap-moment number two--my family and people I know in real life are going to read my erotic romance. Ahh! There are curse words and bondage and sadomasochism and lots of nakedness. Yes, all those things are part of a romance and a suspense plot and a story about healing, but I'm afraid those who know me are only going to focus on the NC-17 stuff.

I know that people in my life understand that this is going to be an erotic romance, but I don't know if they've wrapped their heads around that totally because they've never read in the genre. And it's going to come out of left field for many of them because I'm not the "kind of girl" who you would expect to write a super sexy book. I don't even curse in front of anyone but my closest friends.

But that's simply because I'm a quiet, private person who plays my cards close to the vest. I only fully relax around a few people. So those who aren't in that close circle just make their own assumptions. And boy do people make lots of assumptions about quiet people.

Therefore, this whole experience is going to be interesting in a lot of ways. Not only am I opening up my writing for public opinion but I'm also opening myself up for people to make up all kinds of new assumptions about me--some that may be accurate and many that will be totally false.

But at the end of the day, this is what I signed up for. Regardless of whether you write romance or cozy mysteries or stories about aliens, writing is a deeply personal act that exposes the writer. There's no way around that. Regardless of the plot, your blood is on the page. It's the occupational hazard of good writing.

Hopefully we all survive it, lol.

So how about you? Even though you want to be published, do you fear people reading your words? Do you ever feel exposed in certain parts of your manuscript--a bit of dialogue or emotion that echoes something in your own life? Do you make assumptions about writers based on their books? Do you worry about your family reading your work?

 

 

 

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

 

Wait For It...Waaaait For It: The Nuance of Suspense by Joan Swan

Welcome to genre specialist Monday! :) Today I'm excited to introduce you to one of our new regular columnists--Joan Swan, who is a romantic suspense author who debuts in February 2012! Today she's going to talk to us about...

The Nuance of Suspense by Joan Swan

 

Wait for it... Waaaaait foooor it...

The whole point to suspense is drama development within a story. To have suspenseful drama, you must have:

  • Stakes--what will the character win or lose in the situation
  • Character--do I connect enough with this person to care whether they win or lose
  • Conflict--someone must want one thing while another (even if that is an natural force) wants another. 

And these elements must be utilized in a delicate balance.

Suspense is about proposing a story question, then making the reader wait for the answer. How long? It depends...usually on the question itself.  Some are big, some are small, but regardless of the size (or relative importance) every time an answer is revealed, another continues to linger. Like that childhood game leapfrog, some question that the reader needs answered is always in place, which creates a need-to-know atmosphere: hence, suspense.  When done well, the story skips along, with answers coming at intervals and new questions popping up.

Timing is everything, and it's a skill I believe develops on a gut level.  There are "rules of thumb" that can be applied, but in my opinion the development of your sixth sense is more valuable. If you're bored...the reader will be bored. If the scenario feels off to you...it will feel off to the reader. If your attention is scattered between three different story lines...the reader will also be distracted. And if you allow the suspense to linger, making the reader wait too long for answers, they will get exasperated and put the book down. 

There are different types of suspense a writer can employ to keep the pace moving in creative, thought-provoking ways:  the dark, slowly-twining-around-your-throat suspense, the emotional, life-altering-twisting-your-stomach suspense, and the well-known and loved physical-threat-to life-and-limb suspense.  And because I write romantic suspense, I'm also twining in the romantic conflict along the way. It's fun and challenging and when it all comes together, the result is priceless.

Joan's recommended read for August:

MARKED, by Elisabeth Naughton
THERON – Dark haired, duty bound and deceptively deadly. He’s the leader of the Argonauts, an elite group of guardians that defends the immortal realm from threats of the Underworld.
From the moment he walked into the club, Casey knew this guy was different. Men like that just didn’t exist in real life—silky shoulder-length hair, chest impossibly broad, and a predatory manner that just screamed dark and dangerous. He was looking for something. Her.

 

She was the one. She had the mark. Casey had to die so his kind could live, and it was Theron’s duty to bring her in. But even as a 200-year-old descendant of Hercules, he wasn’t strong enough to resist the pull in her fathomless eyes, to tear himself away from the heat of her body.

As war with the Underworld nears, someone will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Pick up MARKED here:

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters, IndieBound, Powell’s

Joan Swan is a triple RWA® Golden Heart finalist. She writes sexy romantic suspense with a paranormal twist, and her debut novel, FEVER, with Kensington Brava releases February 28, 2012. A second in the series, BLAZE, releases October, 2012. You can find Joan at her blog, One Word At A Time, her website or Twitter.

What do you think creates a suspenseful read?

5 Surprising Things I've Learned Since I've Sold

 


So I've been on this post-book deal journey for the last few months and I'm definitely learning as I go along. I don't know if there is really anyway to fully prepare for this, but I thought I'd share some things that have surprised me along the way. Some of these you CAN get a jump on before that book contract is in your hands.

 

1. Publishers and agents really are respectful that the story is your work. 

You hear all the horror stories--the tenet that publishing is a business (it is) and that once you get into it, you lose a lot of your control (you don't). That has not been my experience. No changes have been taken out of my hands thus far. Both agent and editor edit suggestions, were just that--suggestions. If something didn't resonate with me, we could discuss it. It wasn't do this or we're done. When the editor suggested I change the title, she didn't tell me what to change it to. It was up to me to come up with titles I felt comfortable with.


2. If you're an introvert while you're "pre-published", it will bite you in the butt once you have that book contract.

Editors expect you to be building connections with other authors. They will ask you what authors YOU can approach for blurbs. Yes you. I've been lucky. The lovely and talented (and best-selling) Shayla Black, who I met through my local RWA group, very generously read my book and gave me a cover blurb (you can see it on my books page). I also received one recently from my friend and agency-mate Tiffany Reisz who will debut before me. But I'm still having to approach some authors that I admire but have never met, which is much harder (especially for an introvert like me) to do. Yes, your agent can help with some of this, but you are more likely to get yeses from people that you have already built a connection with. Start now!


3. Writing does not get any easier even when you know the book you're writing is already sold. In fact, writing on deadline just makes it all that more intense.

This is not shocking, but there it is. Writing is ALWAYS hard. Luckily, the fun always outweighs the pain in the end. : )


4. You can deduct BOOKS on your taxes when you're a writer.

Yep, among a lot of other things, because reading is part of your job as a writer. And guess what? You don't have to be published or have a book deal to do so. You can claim writer as your profession and only have make income in three out of the next five years. So that means you have two years to claim it and give yourself time to get a deal. I'm not a tax professional, but go look up the rules.


5. It really is that awesome.

Despite the stress of learning everything on the fly and writing under a deadline and all the other things that go along with the journey to debut authorhood, it still feels amazing. Every day I still have that moment where I'm like, "Holy $#!+! My books are going to be on the shelves." Nothing beats that feeling. :) So all the hard work is definitely worth it.


Okay and before I forget, the winner of the book from Ashley March's guest blog is....

 

THE COZY READER!!!
(Ashley will email you.)

So what have you learned in your journey so far? What has surprised you the most? Do any of the above things surprise you?

Guest Post: Marketing My First Release by Author Tiffany Reisz

 

I have a treat for you guys. The next couple of blog posts will be by some wonderful guests! First up on deck is an author who you all got to meet a few weeks ago. If you missed her post on why she writes erotica, check it out! But wait until after you read today's :) because don't we all want to know what those first few weeks feel like after you debut you're writing? 
So without further rambling from me, I'll turn it over to Tiffany...
My Release by Tiffany Reisz
No, I’m not talking about that kind of release.  Considering my last blog post here at Hot Roni’s House of Fiction and Friction (that is the name of the blog, right?) was about sex, I feel the need to clarify. I’m talking about a book release--that glorious nightmarish long-awaited day when your book that you sold a year and half earlier and sort of forgot about finally comes out.  Some of you know what this experience is like.  For those of your still waiting for your first release, here’s what’s in store for you.
My first Release Day was December 1, 2010 for my erotica novella Seven Day Loan. Release Day is bizarre.  You feel both frantic and impotent all day while you obsessively watch your Amazon sales rank and wonder whether or not 3000 is good or terrible.  Does that mean I’ve sold five books today or five hundred?  No idea.
Side note here - Dear Nielsen Bookscan, Please get your arse in gear and start tracking eBook sales. I really do need another thing to obsess over. Love Always, Tiffany Reisz, Smut Peddler
Back to the Book Release. When you have no money, you have to get creative with your marketing. I got a very cheap ad for two months on a popular Erotica blog.  I pouted and got nice people like Roni Loren to let me guest blog and pimp my wares.  And on Twitter engaged in a little something I call “False Advertising.”  The following are my real tweets attempting to get people to buy Seven Day Loan on Twitter:
Buy Seven Day Loan! Free orgasm with every purchase. #falseadvertising
Buy Seven Day Loan! Free phone sex with the author with every purchase. #falseadvertising
Buy Seven Day Loan! Free centaur with every purchase. #falseadvertising #hunglikeahorse
Buy Seven Day Loan! Win a night with the author! #falseadvertising #worstprizeever
Have I actually sold anything with my creative false advertising? Probably not but it does amuse the Twitter followers.  I believe in the power of humor as much as the power of sex. And of course, anyone who has even had sex knows you need to have a sense of humor about it. The same applies to a book release.  If you don’t laugh, I promise you will cry.
Anywho, back to the releasing.  What’s the best part of having a book released? Is it the constant checking of sales rank? Is it reading of negative reviews (sorry, Lady, but it’s called a NOVELLA for a reason - don’t give me a bad review ONLY because you thought it was too short - novella, not novel, no...vel...la--three syllables)? Is it the fears of annoying your Twitter followers and your friends by begging them for Amazon reviews, begging them to buy it, begging them to tell their friends, family, doctors, hairdressers, and pet-sitters about it?  No, I think the best part is how distracting having a book out is.  You can’t think about anything else. You can’t write. You can’t focus. You just tweet and email and harangue. 
Recently I asked another erotica writer about marketing.  This writer has had many books out in her long lucrative career.  I went up to her and her agent after a booksigning and asked, “I’ve got a novella out.  What do you suggest for marketing?”  The bestselling writer said, “Keep writing and releasing stuff.  Build a backlist.  And don’t worry about marketing.  The more you market a release the worse the book does.”
Well, NOW they tell me.
*head meets desk*
Feel free to ask Tiffany any more questions about her experience, I'm sure she'll stop by later to answer anything you may throw out there. :) And just for fun, I'd love for y'all to come up with your own false advertising one-liners. Maybe Tiffany will use some of them to continue her twitter campaign. :)  (And they don't have to be dirty, but they better be funny!)
Thanks to Tiffany and remember to check out her novella Seven Day Loan! I read it in one sitting and was truly amazed how Tiffany weaved such a story, a sense of place, and full characters in such a short amount of space. And it's a perfect winter read because you'll feel like you're tucked away in some secluded New England manor with the characters. You can get it here or on Amazon. It's less than $3, so don't you owe yourself a little pre-holiday treat today? :) 
Click image to view full cover
Tiffany Reisz lives in Lexington, Kentucky with two roommates, two dogs, two cats, and one hedgehog which doesn’t belong to anyone who lives in the house and no one is actually sure how he got there. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is making both her parents and her professors proud by writing erotica under her real name. She has five piercings, one tattoo, and has been arrested twice. When not under arrest, Tiffany enjoys Latin Dance, Latin Men, and Latin Verbs. She dropped out of a conservative southern seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler. Johnny Depp’s aunt was her fourth grade teacher. There is little to nothing interesting about her. If she couldn’t write, she would die.
www.twitter.com/tiffanyreisz 

 

Why You Should Read Debut Authors

 

We all have our favorite authors, the ones we go back to again and again. The ones we buy no matter what the story may be about because we know they won't let us down. And this is a great thing. We want to support those authors who always manage to sweep up into their stories and leave us satisfied at the end. That's the kind of author we all strive to be.

 

However, sometimes that means we can get into a pattern of only reading those go-to authors and we miss out on all the new authors breaking in. It's hard sometimes to part with money and take a risk on a new author, but here's why I think we should:

1. Debut authors offer us a glimpse into stories that captured an editor's (and usually agent's) attention. These are breakthrough books. These stories were so good, they beat all the odds and got the book deal. We can learn from that.
2. Debut authors were "one of us" (the unpubbed/pre-pubbed) not that long ago. We know how hard it was for them to get to the point they're at, so don't we want to support them and  help them be successful?
3. Because these stories got to this point, you're probably going to end up with a really great read and maybe a new author to add to your favorites list!


And if you're looking for suggestions for a debut author...

 

 

Seducing the Duchess


My agency-mate, Ashley March's Seducing the Duchess was released this week. I'm 2/3 of the way through reading it and it is fabulous.  So much fun.

 

Here's the blurb (from Amazon):

Love and marriage don't have to be strangers... 

Gambling. Carousing. Flirting. Charlotte, Duchess of Rutherford, will do anything to escape her painful marriage and force her husband to divorce her. But when Phillip, Duke of Rutherford, promises a divorce if Charlotte will help him become a better husband for another woman, she wonders if she really wants to lose him...

 

Now how can you resist that hook? :)


So what debut author have you read lately that you'd recommend? Do you tend to stick to your favorite authors or do you venture out and try new ones?

**Today's Theme Song**
"Break Out" - Foo Fighters
(player in sidebar, take a listen)


 

WIP Wednesday with Author Angi Morgan

Hill Country Holdup

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to debut author Angi Morgan. I first met Angi when I joined my local RWA group, and I have enjoyed watching her career take off this past year. Not only did Angi make her first sale (quickly followed by her second!) but she also won the coveted Golden Heart award with this manuscript at RWA Nationals! For those of you who aren't familiar, the Golden Heart is like the romance world's Oscar for unpublished manuscripts (which this story was at the time of the contest.) 

So, even if you aren't someone who usually reads the shorter romances/Harlequins (And why not? They're awesome), I think you should check out this book. We can all learn something from a story that not only gave a new author her first sale, but has risen to the top to snag such an important award. So, check out the blurb and then I'll hand it over to Angi.

Blurb:
Dr. Jane Palmer had every intention of telling FBI agent Steve Woods he was a father. But the rehearsed lines and practiced responses were forgotten the moment her little boy was kidnapped. Now, heart breaking and on the verge of falling apart, Jane needed Steve more than ever….

After every attempt at putting old feelings to rest, Steve Woods never expected Jane back in his life. Especially not for this reason. Racing against a ticking clock, desperate to earn Jane's trust, Steve still sensed Jane wasn't telling him everything. Which made him wonder why she'd come to Texas in the first place. And what it had to do with the child he'd do anything to rescue.


WIP Wednesday

Thank you for inviting me today, Roni. This is an exciting week. HILL COUNTRY HOLDUP, my first Harlequin Intrigue is on sale. Seeing the actual book sitting on a shelf was the most awesome feeling. I have lots of contests this week and will list them at the end. So I thought I’d keep with your WIP Wednesdays theme since I’m at the beginning of a new manuscript.

It’s actually been a while since I began a completely new concept. Since I’ve been trying to sell for several years, I spent more time on re-working good stories instead of developing new ideas. So working completely from scratch is quite refreshing.

I submitted my second Intrigue (.38 Caliber Cover-Up) the second week of August and waited a couple of weeks before writing my notes. By then, back-to-school sales called to me (I’m a sucker for office supplies). A new type of notebook with lots of pockets caught my eye and I wondered how I could use it for writing. I made poster board cards to fit, and stuck the post it notes I wrote about my characters or scenes. The small poster pulls out and I can review more closely. And the post its allow me to rearrange, etc. It’s nice for travel, and for being poolside. I use my Netbook for notes, but sometimes having pen and paper (or a post it) is very useful. The post its also transfer directly to my story board so I have the notes while I’m working in my office for those times I’m just staring into space.

But back to getting started on a manuscript...

I’m letting a lot of the story gel in my head while I promote HCH this week. I’m a definite pantzer--not plotting many of details. I make notes about events I know for certain will happen, and post its for things I know are absolutes about the characters.  

I gather pictures of scenery and make a story collage with pictures from magazines. I also find pictures that represent the hero and heroine for me and make the guy my computer backdrop. So each time the computer fires up (desktop or laptop), I see the face of the hero. It not only reminds me why I selected that particular picture, but also reminds me to write.

One other thing I’ve discovered. I was determined to call this WIP Intrigue # 3, so I wouldn’t get a title into my head that would change if Harlequin bought the book. Well...turns out I just can’t wrap my brain or Muse around it. I’m hoping to write every day on Showdown in San Antonio.

Thanks for having me today.
~~Angi

QUESTIONS FOR YOU: Are you more excited beginning a manuscript or finishing? Be honest. And what are some of the things you do when gathering ideas for a new WIP?

CONTESTS: The details for my contests are on my website: AngiMorgan.com. Hold Up the Cover will run the entire month HCH is on bookshelves--I have several prizes to be drawn for those sending me a picture of themselves with the cover (and signing up for my newsletter). And there’s one more contest for debut week: I’m blog hopping (list on website) and if you leave five comments on five blogs this week (13th through 19th), then send me an email, you’ll be entered in a drawing for more books and prizes. (You can even go back to blogs from 9-13 and 9-14.)

Visit her website AngiMorgan.com or become a friend on Facebook. And go check out her book!

**Today's Theme Song**
"Somewhere Down in Texas" - George Strait
(player in sidebar, take a listen)