Category Archives: Writing & Publishing

Awesome News, Awesome Books and Awesome Heaving Bosoms!

My Book Stuff, Writing & Publishing

Heh…How’s THAT for a title for today’s blog?

So let’s talk about something other than Amazon for a change? Though my sales rankings are back up. Yay!

Awesome news – RIDING ON INSTINCT made the Barnes & Noble and Borders Bestseller Lists! Super thank yous to everyone who bought my book! I really, really, appreciate it! :heart:

Awesome books – Lots of awesome books releasing today:

Lauren Dane’s Always, available at Samhain Publishing. Everything Lauren writes is golden. Go forth and purchase.
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Excerpt and buy links here

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Mandy Roth’s Going The Distance, available at Samhain Publishing. Mandy is an incredibly talented writer of many genres, successful at all.

Excerpt and buy link here

And the Smart Bitches, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan, have finally released the long awaited Beyond Heaving Bosoms, a very irreverent and loving look at the romance industry.

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I can’t think of two people who love the romance industry more than the Smart Bitches. This book is funny and insightful and smart and if you want to consider yourself a smart bitch (and really, who doesn’t?), get this book at your nearest bookstore or online retailer. (And no, I’m not linking to Amazon.) But the Smart Bitches have links up at their site here

So lots of great books to get out there and read today. Including mine, if you haven’t yet. :giggle:

Back To The Grind…

Writing & Publishing

Since my blog contest lasted so long and every day I was putting up book giveaways, I might have forgotten how to do regular blog posts. Plus I buried myself in promotion for RIDING ON INSTINCT, so let’s see if I can get back to normal. Whatever normal is. Heh.

I’m working madly on a new book for Berkley. Being a writer is a lot like being a juggler. Lots of balls in the air. You’re writing a book, and oh here comes a ball in the air–the last book you finished has revisions to be done–oh here comes another ball in the air–the book you finished before that has copyedits or galleys–oh here comes another ball in the air–another book is releasing soon so you have to promote it–oh here comes another ball in the air–you have a lot of emails to deal with, or a workshop to prepare for, or promotional items to create, or a newsletter to write, and those website updates need to be done–and don’t forget all that stuff that needs to be mailed out. Suddenly you’re juggling a hell of a lot of balls, and there’s still that book you need to be writing. You know, the one that’s due at the end of this month? Ack. Anyway, that’s what I’m doing. I love my job. :giggle:

So here’s some awesome news! Go congratulate my friend Larissa Ione, who made the New York Times Bestseller List with the third book in her amazing and unique Demonica series, Passion Unleashed! Larissa is profoundly talented and it was only a matter of time before she made this list. Congratulations Larissa!!!

And hey, if you’ve found Riding On Instinct at the bookstores…or not found it, holler at me and let me know! And of course if you’ve read it, do let me know your thoughts! And thanks to everyone who bought the book.Y’all rock my world! :boobie:

The Bachelor

Life in Motion, Writing & Publishing

So it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of reality tv. And I’ve always watched The Bachelor, even though after…what is it…seventeen seasons, only one couple has married. I think a few other couples remain together in some way or another.

But this season (and if you don’t watch reality tv, or The Bachelor, bear with me. This blog post isn’t going to be entirely about this show), Jason Mesnick, single father and former season rejectee, set out to find love. And he narrowed it down to two women–Molly and Melissa. Now those of us watching this season were pretty darn sure he was going to choose Melissa. She was cute, funny, warm, and obviously head over heels in love with Jason.

And Jason did choose Melissa, and the engagement scene was so romantic. She squealed, and he proposed, and at the end Jason and Melissa and Jason’s 3 year old son all jumped into the pool together. Yay! Happily Ever After.

Well…not exactly. Because a couple months after they shot that finale, they filmed the After The Final Rose episode. And Jason came on and said he’d changed his mind, that he loved Molly. So he dumped Melissa on national television. It was achingly painful to watch, to see Melissa so broken hearted. And then they brought Molly out and within ten minutes of Jason giving Melissa the boot, he’s making out with Molly.

The whole thing was an epic nightmare. Now some say the entire thing was staged. There are rumors that Jason knew by the time he got to the last 5 girls that it was Molly he wanted, and ABC rigged it so he’d choose Melissa, then dump her. All for ratings. Ugh. Whatever. Even if it didn’t happen that way, the man has no honor. If he loved both women at the end he should have taken a step back and said he couldn’t choose, that he needed more time. He shouldn’t have proposed to Melissa. He should have never agreed to break up with Melissa on television. He has no integrity. I have no respect for the man.

So while I watched this debacle, it made me think of how I watch this show every season, and my expectation is to see the development of a romance. That my expectations are always high. That I want my Happily Ever After.

It’s like our romance novels, and the stories we read. As an author and as a reader, when I sink into a story, there are certain expectations I have. When I create a story, I know my readers expect to see my characters fall i love. To be faithful to each other, to weather the storms of the plotline and to come out at the end committed in some way to each other. My readers expect that Happily Ever After. When I read a romance, I expect that happily ever after. If I don’t get it, I’ve been let down. I feel the author has failed me. I lose trust. And once trust is lost, it can never be regained.

I think a reader and an author enter in a trust relationship. When you read a romance, that’s what you expect to get–a romance. If you don’t, you’ve lost trust in that author’s ability to give you what you expected.

When I write romance, I want my characters to end up happy and together. Because that’s what makes me happy. That’s what I work for when I write my characters’ story. Anything less and it’s unfinished, I’ve let the reader down.

I’ve lost trust in The Bachelor to deliver what I expect. I realize it’s not the same thing as a romance novel, but if you advertise that it’s going to be a romance, then you’d better deliver.

I think in the future, instead of watching The Bachelor on Monday nights, I’ll spend my time reading romance, where I’m assured of my happily ever after.

Did you watch The Bachelor? If so, what did you think?

And when you read romance, do you feel like you’re putting your trust in an author to deliver the happily ever after? What happens if they fail?