JM Madden

Howdy people! I'm next on the 'In Betweener' list, and I'm so very proud to have you here. This is my first blog hop ever! Decadent Publishing has some fantastic Holiday stories coming out soon, but in the meantime, we thought we'd remind you about what we've already done. Before I forget, this is the link to the list of participating blogs.

My most recent Decadent Release is Wet Dream, part of the 1NightStand Series. Here's the blurb.

Ex-FBI agent Ginger Hampton is not surprised when her date is a no show. Madame Evangeline, owner of 1NightStand promised her a perfect night…but Ginger is used to disappointment in love. The fact that she’s six feet tall, model perfect and owns her own high-end security firm tends to intimidate men. In spite of herself, she’d had high hopes for this date.

Madame Eve’s email had told him to watch for a woman in distress, and the woman at the bar is exactly that. Chief of Security Cameron Jones doesn’t see himself as a hero, but he’s willing to check on a special guest for his boss. He doesn’t realize until he sees her face that it’s Ginger Hampton, his own personal weak spot. She’s not turned off by his brutal scarring, and even flirts as if she’s interested. When he escorts her to her room, does he have the balls to respond to her interest, and stay the night? How can he say no to…

his own personal wet dream?

 I loved writing this book. It flowed easily, and my characters told me how they wanted to progress. And don't be surprised if you see Ginger and Cameron again...

But I have a question for you. One answer will get a blingy promo treat from me, a little box of goodies plus a download of my book. Sorry, I can't ship out of the states, I'm just a poorly writer.  If an international commenter wins, they'll receive a download of Wet Dream.

I'm in between contracts right now. I've deliberately not submitted anything new to publishers for several months. For one thing, I'm kind of torn between which direction I want to go. Pubbing with a conventional house, self-pubbing. For another, I've released 4 books this year. 4! I'm a little amazed I haven't completely melted down. Anyway, I have several manuscripts running right now, and every single one of them are vastly different.

*I have the first of a fantasy dragon romance series almost completely written, with ideas for the second and third in my head percolating. 

*I have a disabled veteran contemporary romance series started as well. Actually, all three books in the series are started, with ideas for several more jotted down. Again, the first book is almost complete.

*I have an apocolyptic urban fantasy romance  waiting in the wings.

In addition to these seven, I have about another, oh, twelve in varying stages of completion. Contemporary m/f, contemporary cowboy m/m, urban fantasy, menage m/m/f. I have a little bit of everything in my files.

My question to you is this: What would you like to see more of in the market? Or, the reverse. What do you see too much of? I haven't seen anybody present this question to readers recently, so I thought I'd ask.

I honestly look forward to reading your answers! Thanks so much for stopping by! Remember to leave your email for a chance to win. And to bounce to the next blog!

 I set up Google Alerts a good while ago- when my first book came out last December actually. I wanted to catch any reviews I received, or any mentions. For the most part, the bulk of the alerts have been unrelated to me or my books.

Until the other day. My name and the title of my most recent book, Wet Dream, began popping up in several different places. When I explored, I found that I had been pirated.

People were stealing my book!

I honestly think it goes back to one single person, somehow stealing my pdf and dispersing it to many different sites. This person probably gets a lot of positive feedback for bringing new work to the forums and chat rooms, but I'd personally like to string him or her up by their privates and leave them outside in an ice storm.

I filed the Digital Milennium Copyright notices I needed to, and so far, 3 of the 4 sites I popped up on have removed my work. The fourth site, Rapidshare, just makes my blood boil. You can upload content immediately, but for some reason it takes the copyright owner at least a week to remove the same content. And in that time my book, that took me months to write, is being downloaded hundreds of times a day.

Damn it! I just checked to be sure it was down, and found it in two more spots. One of the websites wants me to add my name, address and phone number to the copyright infringement notice I send them. Yeah, right!

What's really frustrating is the comments of the people downloading the pirated books. They sound very entitled, and say that authors shouldn't be complaining about the 'exposure' they are receiving. What utter gall! I am a business, and I expect to be paid for my product!

I knew I would be pirated eventually, I just didn't realize how pissed I would be about it. I guess because I used to be a cop, and back then I could do something about stealing. Now, my hands are tied. I can send the desist notices, and HOPE they get removed. Grrr....

Sorry, this has turned into a bitch fest. Let's make it more useful.

When you get published, you need to create several spreadsheets. I was not an Excel user until recently, and I can see why everybody loves it. It makes keeping track of websites and notifications easy. I have a spreadsheet for my reviews, popular blog sites, self-pubbing sites I'm going to want to come back to later, and royalties.

Two days ago, I created a Piracy spreadsheet listing the website where I found my work, the date, the direct link, the date it was removed, the email I sent the notice to and if I can figure out the direct service provider I put that on as well. Now you have a listing you can go back through a day or two later and check all the links to make sure they have been removed. So far, Excel has been the easiest form I've found for keeping track of those kinds of things. It's also easy to create a following page for other books.

As aggravating as it is, if you start keeping track early, you'll be ahead of the game.  You can also get great information from the Yahoo group Authors against e-Piracy.

Do any of you have any other suggestions for combating piracy?

A friend of mine, Donna McDonald, told me something the other day that really made sense to me. As writers we need to pay it forward. I've actually heard the sentiment several times recently, but it just sank in when she she mentioned it. Donna is forging into self-publishing land, and she keeps us updated on her progress. She said that she feels she needs to let others know what works and what doesn't because they supported her in the beginning. We really appreciate the info. There are so many options for today's writer it's hard to decide what path to take.

I think writers in general need to make an effort to pay it forward. Most of us started out wondering if we even were writers, or if there would be a market for our stuff. I remember walking into my first chapter meeting, and being in awe as I met women who I'd only read biographies of inside book covers. It was thrilling to me, and fascinating. Those women helped me very much, and I try to pass on that help as much as I can.

We have new people coming into our chapter, and I love being able to pay it forward for them. I love to critique new people, and see the realization go through them on how to make their story better. I love to fill in all the knowledge gaps on how the industry works, and show them there are so many paths they can take now.

But we need to make sure to pay it forward for everybody. I LOVE my covers, so every chance I get I forward people on to Dara England, the designer.  My editors are miracle workers. I think I'm a good writer, but they make me great. They make me look at things with fresh eyes, and more scope, and bring out the depth to the characters I create. I can't imagine not having editors. I heard a couple things the other day about authors who deliberately didn't have them. Huh? Why would you shoot yourself in the foot that way? Their help can make you better. Period!

Bleh! Anyway...

Take the time today to single somebody out and give them props. It doesn't have to be anything big. Maybe a mention on Facebook or Twitter to check out their book or blog. Call your Mom if you can and tell her what a fantastic person she created. And, of course, make sure you support your family. Send hubby a positive text message for the hell of it, or sit down with your son while he plays video games and tell him how creative you think he is. My daughter, who is seven, brought me her first romance novel she wrote. It was only six pages long, but it hit all the important parts, "and the lovers walked into the sunset,"- her words, not mine. I love that, and told her she could write me a novel any time she wanted to.

Take the time to be a champion to somebody else. Maybe then they'll pay it forward.

I am working like crazy. I used to hear other writers talk about how frantic their lives were, with deadlines and edits, and at one point, I prayed for that. Simply because I knew then I would be working as a writer.

Let me tell you. I've got it in spades.

Urban Moon just released, which includes my second title Burning Moonlight. It's an urban fantasy set on an alien world, where humans are the invaders, and the spoilers. There's a handsome hero who has to help my heroine save a Princess. I had a blast writing it, and I hope it finds a good audience.

I'm almost done with edits for my Decadent Publishing 1NightStand book, Wet Dream, and it should be out the end of this month or the beginning of next month. I'm VERY excited for it to be out.

I have a 4th title coming out late summer/early fall under a pen name. M/M

I'm working on a dragon series to release by myself through Smashwords/Amazon. Very in-depth, several books planned. It is kicking my butt! I want to have the first book out within the next month or two.

I'm finishing up a Christmas/holiday themed contemporary, that I think is going to be one of my favorite manuscripts. Emotionally scarred hero in love with a woman for 4 years, but has been too concerned he would ruin her if they connected. First meeting, he hurts her, physically,( though accidently of course) which is exactly what he didn't want to do, and reinforces all his doubts. Going to be looking for a home for this one soon.

Also have another christmas themed novella due by the end of August. Still batting around ideas for that one.

Judging a fairly large writing competition. Have 6 fulls I need to judge within the next two weeks.

I'm Chapter President for Kentucky Romance Writers, so in between critiques for members and finding a speaker for next springs workshop, I'm trying to keep everybody motivated and eager to write.

Plus, the kids are on summer break, so every moment of quiet time has to be used judiciously.

Man, I'm tired just writing my list. If I survive the year, I'll be surprised.

Let me say, even though this kind of sounds like a bitch session, it totally is not. I love that I'm this busy, and have a direction. I'm learning as I go, and generally loving every minute of it.

What's on your plate?

While at RT last month, I had the extreme pleasure to listen to Mark Coker- the founder of Smashwords- speak. Self-publishing used to have an incredible stigma to it, but with the electronic age evolving, so has the perception of publishing. I think every author has thought about putting their own work out, and are just afraid to plunge into the deep end.

 In 2008, Mark Coker and his wife were trying to get their book  BoobTube published, but were not having any luck. Mark created Smashwords in response to that struggle, to self publish himself and to give other authors the same option. Since then, Smashwords has exploded, with 19,000 authors self-pubbing 45,000 books.

Mr. Coker advised there are several things that he has observed over the years while managing Smashwords. These are his 7 Secrets to Success.

• 1) Write a great Book. Seems self-explanatory to me, but he says that the biggest single criticism he has is that people put out TOO MUCH, and they aren't as fanatical about the quality as they need to be. There are no editing requirements, per se, at Smashwords, and that shows in the quality of some of the books. Coker said, "Honor your reader with a great read, use Beta readers and invest in a great cover image."
• 2) Write another great book.  The highest earning authors are the ones putting out multiple books, particularly series'.
• 3) Maximize distribution.  If your book is not available, it's not discoverable to new readers. Retailers such as Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Sony spend millions of dollars on advertising to get you to their site to look at what they offer. Take advantage of the all the distribution options Smashwords offers to maximize your income.
• 4) Give some books away for free.  Even though it sounds counter-productive, authors at Smashwords who give away books are the highest paid in the company. Particularly in a series. Offer the first one for free, then charge for the next books. If the work is good, and the story compelling, they WILL buy the next one.
• 5) Patience is a virtue.  E-book sales start slowly, and build gradually. It takes time to see a return. He compared the books to seedlings- you have to nourish the seedling for it to grow properly. Maintain a presence at all the distribution points where your book is for sale. He cited a statistic about Brian Pratt, one of their best-sellers. His first -quarter earnings were $7.92. Now, 1 1/2 years later, he's earning $20,000 a quarter.
• 6) Trust your readers and partners. Paranoia is counterproductive. You have to believe that your book will do well, and put in the time to keep in going. A large part of that is word-of-mouth from other readers and your supply chain partners. If you limit distribution due to lack of trust (ie. Kobo, or some of the others being too small) you'll limit your success. Distribute everywhere.
• 7) Marketing starts YESTERDAY!  Cultivate the social networking sites available to you. Even BEFORE you put out a book. Follow other writers, comment, share ideas, and just generally support them. The readers that follow them and see your name being supportive will remember. "Your readers are your salesforce."

Mr. Coker had some phenomenal information to impart. I asked him if he thought the market would soon be totally saturated. He responded, "No not saturated. More competitive! There has never been a better time to reach readers."

I told you that I would be doing some extra blogs over the next week or two to convey some of the information I absorbed at RT. One of the most interesting people I listened to was HP Mallory.

HP is a selp-published phenomenon who has a bit of a cult following. Her urban fantasy and paranormal romances seem to fly off the virtual shelves. I have to admit, I haven’t read any of her books, YET. (Although I have downloaded her first one.) I listened to her speak at the Romantic Times Convention in LA last week, and she has some phenomenal marketing strategies to keep her website active and readers engaged. And I think they apply whether indie pubbed or traditionally pubbed.

HP is considered a successful indie author. According to her figures she shared at RT, her January sales hit 36,840 books sold. If I remember correctly, her December sales were in the 20k range, and she believes the spike in January was thanks to e-readers. She admits that she is very active in several different areas, including Kindle boards, Nook forums and other social media such as Twitter and Facebook. She also has her own Yahoo group to interact with fans.

I want to focus on her website, though. It’s fascinating, and ingenious.

HP’s book covers are clever cartoons that carry through every page of her website. She says that you have to keep the reader engaged, and interested. Each page has a different cartoon header, and a different focus. (FYI- I tried to do screenshots of the areas I'm talking about, but they wouldn't carry over from MSOffice. You'll have to settle for hoaky camera pics.)

Each page has to have as many key words for searches as possible. Look at her first line. ‘Bestselling Author of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Books’. She has 7 major search words in one line. She advises, “Tell visitors how you are different from everybody else.” ‘Bestselling Author’. Yeah, I think if you sell 36k books in one month you can call yourself best-selling.

She also advised to make your website interactive. If you navigate through her site, you will find surveys on her books that you have read. I like the picture survey, because you can indicate what you think the characters look like. I’ve never actually seen anything like it. She has a survey for each book she has written, and even her email contact page has a couple of interactive questions.

HP advised that you should have “a plethora of information.” Keep them busy. If the reader is interested, they stay longer. And are more likely to buy. Give them downloadable free samples of your work. Let them have fun and get to know your characters better. Run fun contests to gather more readers. She said that the most successful contest she ran was for $100 amazon gift card when she hit 100,000 books sold.

Make your buy links easy. The less clicks to buy a book, the better. If you make it difficult to find, people lose interest and will navigate away. And the more books you have, of course, the more you sell. I’ve heard from many, many people, if you have three or four books out, make the first one free or only $.99. Yes, it may be your baby, and you may think it’s a $9.99 book, but sales will spike if you reduce the price or make it totally free.

Also, give people directions. If you notice in her sidebar, all of her pages are directional. Join group, take survey, follow me. People like guidance, and subconsciously they react to subtle directions like this. Even the background of her site is directional. The linked spider webs keep your eyes tracking up and down.

There's too much information to go over here. I strongly sugguest you go to HP's site and explore on your own. Try to look at it from a marketing perspective and see how many tricks you can implement. I plan on working on my own site this rainy weekend.

Enjoy!

Oh, watch next week for a recap of Mark Coker's presentation at RT. Yeah, he's just the creator of SMASHWORDS!!!!

Grrr.... This is the Second Time Around I'm trying to do this. (Ha ha..lil joke..) Internet went out the first time.

Anyway, I arrived in LA on Tuesday, and that night we went to the Run Devil Run concert. Now, RDR is the band Decadent is working with on an anthology they just released by the same name. The bandmates were characters in each of the five stories, and it was a mutually beneficial endeavor. Decadent and RDR got great publicity, and everybody that went to the concert at the Viper Room had a blast!

This was me with Drummer Dave, one of the bandmates who was also nominated for Mr. Romance that week. He didn't win, but I thought he tried wonderfully!

This is Heather and Lisa, the creative dynamos behind Decadent Publishing. They were fantastic hosts, and I can't wait to get together with them again!

 Wednesday, the workshops started, and I can only say, I'm glad I took notes I can come back to later. My mind was buzzing on overload by wednesday evening, but it was one of those overloads where you want to crawl into a corner with your laptop and try to implement everything immediately. Wonderful. Wednesday night, I went to the Decadent party and met all my peeps and fellow authors I'd been talking to online. It was so enlightening putting faces to names, and having our misconceptions corrected. Everybody was more spectacular than I expected, and I cherish the time I spent with them through the week.

 This was the signing at Club RT. Decadent basically took over the three tables (and maybe a little more) and rocked the house when the bandmates came as well to sign the anthology. I met readers galore, and handed out my little zipper pulls and pens. (I would say the charms were definitely a hit though! What woman doesn't like bling?) Hello Michelle,  hello Dawn from the Smutketeers, Aussie Megan, and Laura from Two Lips Reviews. It was fantastic speaking to all of you!

I had to stop in on one workshop for my mother. For those of you that watch Days of our Lives, you may recognize these two lovely people.  Remember Doug and Julie?

The rest of the week, we went to Balls and more workshops. The Ellora's Cave Bollywood Ball was absolutely rockin'! I think I danced more that night than in the previous thirty years combined. Then there was the Venetian Fairy ball. I have to say, I was pretty partial to the Beer Fairy- Hello Deanna!!!- even though the little puppy with wings won the costume competition. Who can say no to a little puppy like that?

The Vampire Ball was okay, but I think everybody was starting to get a little burned out. Saturday was the huge Book Expo and Teen day, and I saw names there that I had only seen on book covers or in the news before. It was fascinating.

Sunday, I bugged out of the conference and took a day for me. I took one of those all-around-the-city tours, and I'm so glad I did. I saw more that day than I did all week. Although it was cold. Kentucky was 80 the week I was gone. Cali was between 50 and 60. and the Ocean was Freaking Ice Cold!!

But the tour took me through Marina Del Rey, and up to Venice Beach, where I got this darling thing. No, it's not two dragons, like my husband thought. It's just a scrolled out heart, appropriate for a romance writer I thought.

The tour bus ran us up the coast a ways, then through Beverly Hills. Yes, I saw the Regent Beverly Wilshire, where Pretty Woman was filmed. I have to say, it was a smaller hotel, comparatively, but still beautiful.

Then the bus took us up to Hollywood. Check out Tom Cruise. He was just standing there, at his star. No, it's not really him, but I thought he was cute anyway.

I also saw Gauman's chinese theater, but it was all blocked off because they were going to be having the Rio Premiere that night. I bought a few trinkets, and climbed back on the bus. Eddie took us through downtown, and we saw some beautiful things, but I didn't post building pictures. Too boring. Although he did pull over on the interstate (which I found out later was a HUGE NO NO!!) to take a pic of the Hollywood sign.

I wasn't ready to end my day when he dropped me off at the hotel, so I hired a car to take me back out to Santa Monica pier, just a few miles away. The one thing I wanted to do in Cali before I left was see the ocean as the sun set. I walked down the Third Street Promenade and watched a silver robot man tease kids, an amputee with no legs do gymnastics on poles, and really remarkable artists play their music and sing. I ended up down on the cold sand beach, looking at the amusement park on the pier and watching the sun go down. It really was a magnificent end to my trip. 

Keep your eyes peeled for more blogs coming from me. I have one to post on a marketing presentation HP Mallory presented, and another on Smashwords creator Mark Coker. Thanks for stopping by!

I have horses. Just three, but they might as well be three hyperactive children the way they behave. They are always into something. We have a hundred acres they can roam on, but for some reason, the two acres around the house is where they HAVE to be.

        I haven't gotten much writing done today because I've had to play doctor, yet again, to one of my 'children'. The same child, actually, that usually gets hurt. Tucker. Yes, he's sticking his tongue out.

I've had Tucker since he was about 4 months old. He's always been curious, and playful, and affectionate. And especially clumsy. Last year (almost to the day actually) Tucker somehow managed to cut his leg down to the bone, on the lower end, scraping off about 4 inches of skin. Imagine a tube sock pushed down to your ankle. Yeah, that what Tuck's leg looked like. I called vet after vet, and nobody could come out for two days. I live in the middle of racehorse country, and they were dropping foals at the time.

So, when I did get a vet to come out, he literally laughed, and told me I had a lot of work to do. There was nothing HE could do, because the wound was old and would not heal well if he tried to suture it closed. It was up to me to build the flesh of his leg back up with repeated flushing with water, and a combination of medicines and bandages.

It took a solid six-months of bandaging his leg before it was finally well enough to leave open. And another 5 months of waiting for the skin to heal over and the hair to grow back. The hair has not even closed all the way yet, but the wound is healthy.

Then, last night, he gets the same injury on the opposite, GOOD, leg. To a lesser degree, thank goodness, but I still see bone. (A horse's back leg has very thin skin at the front of the leg. All of the important tendons and muscles are at the back).  I bandaged him last night with hubby's help, and changed it again today. He's in pain, but I gave him some medicine to take the edge off.

 So, old scar on the left, new cut on the right. He'll be fine, eventually, but I have not figured out what he cut himself on. I didn't last year, either.

The good thing about Tucker is, though, he's very smart when he's hurt. He hollers for Mom to come make it all better, and waits patiently while she does all her painful things to him.

Do you have issues with your animals?

I was watching a show on fit tv the other day about male-female attraction. They were talking about body hair on men, baldness, male height, and what women were attracted to.

I decided that women, in general, are vain, fickle, bi-polar creatures. I know, yes, I am a woman, but I know what I like, and I also know that what I like can change regularly.

How many of you like baldness in men? Some of the most well-known male actors are bald. Sean Connery (who I would do in a heartbeat, with hubby's blessing), Nick Cage, Bruce Willis, Patrick Stewart, Vin Diesel. Studies have shown that testosterone (virility) runs higher in balding men, which increases hair loss. It also means they throw more male children.

But, honestly now, how many of you have sat with a girlfriend in a mall looking at men, and ruled somebody out because he was a little light on top? I'll admit it, I have. Culturally, balding men have been shoved to the side to make room for the Robert Pattinsons and Johnny Depps of our times.

How many bald men have you seen on the covers of romance novels?

The segment was quick to point out that men that shaved their heads were not looked at the same way as men who lost their hair naturally. The shaved men were thought of as sexy. Okay....

They also confirmed that hair on a man's back was nasty, but on the chest was ok.

And that men that were 5 foot 8 or shorter had to make $368,000 a year to compete attraction-wise to taller 6 foot men.

My question is, how many short, bald men with back hair strike out with women? And would YOU find them appealing?

Kids and I went to Lexington yesterday to bum around and distribute brochures for my Chapter's upcoming Spring into Writing Workshop with Scott Eagan. I posted them in libraries and bookstores, and when I entered Joseph-Beth Bookseller at Lexington Green, one of the cashiers remarked that I must be here to see Kim Harrison. Well, no, I admitted. Why, is she here?

Indeed she was.

Joseph Beth is a wonderful book store. If you are ever in Lexington, you need to check it out. It is two story, with an escalator, and the glass front faces a duck pond and has several wonderful attractions situated around it. There is a wonderful fountain in the atrium in front of the store big enough that we have multi-author booksignings there, and can easily fit 15-20 authors.

Yesterday, it was full of Kim Harrison fans. There were no less than 200 people waiting in line or in the atrium for the chance to get close to the author. Now, I have read her books, and they are wonderful, but there was no way I was going to spend the rest of my day waiting for two minutes with her. Sorry, Kim.

She seemed very nice, and is actually a very pretty woman in person. She was patient with everybody, and I'm sure she probably stayed until every book had been signed. This picture is taken from the balcony above her, so I apologize for the quality.

It was just kind of a surprise walking in and hearing such a big name was in the store. Kids were less than impressed, of course.

So, I think everybody's had those times in their lives when they just CAN NOT seem to catch up. This week was my week. For some reason, everything crashed down all at once. But it's all my fault because several of the things hanging on me I had scheduled, dipshit that I am. Taxes were the big thing. This is my first year filing 'writer stuff' so I had a lot of extra information to gather. Granted, we have our taxes done by a professional, but it still takes a lot of organization. So, on top of everything farm related, I had to try to remember what I ate at the Lori Foster event 8 months ago.  Yeak, okay. Here's my piece of advice. For those of you yet unpublished, KEEP EVERYTHING AND DEDUCT! Receipts for food, gas, conference fees. From the time you step out the door to do to something writerly, everything is tax deductible. Dry cleaning bill for that outfit you want to wear, ink for the excerpt you printed, it's all good. Even if you aren't published. If you can show through rejection emails even that you are trying to be published, it's tax deductible. If you have a reasonable expectation of being published within the next 2-3 years, start deducting now, because it will be more difficult to go back three years and try to make an amendment.

Thankfully though, ours are all done. And this is the first year in four when I haven't forgotten something stupid, like an interest statement. Chester was very happy with me.

So, in amidst the tax frenzy, I'm trying to put together an info pack for our upcoming Kentucky Romance Writers Spring into Writing workshop in March. Which, the brochure is done now (I think) and I just have a website form to set up.

Then I have edits due this week- again my own schedule. I have a blog due tomorrow (I will get it Deena, promise!), my son has an honor roll assembly today, my parent's anniversary is tomorrow and I haven't sent a card. Shit, the longer I go on the more I remember I have to do.

Sorry, gotta go.

Later.

So, when Decadent informed it's authors that they were embarking on a new Rock and Roll paranormal series, I thought, "Cool." Then I realized that they were actually collaborating with Los Angeles Band. Being in Kentucky, I was not familiar with Run Devil Run. Apparently they are pretty hot in LA. At one time they were Poets and Pornstars, but their lead singer dropped out. They hired a new front man and became Run Devil Run.

Below is a video of one of their songs.

The series is going to be a 5 book series written by Rachel Carrington, Mari Freeman, Susan DiPlacido, Valerie Mann and Becca Dale, and will be released first in ebook format, then later in print. Each release will have a corresponding themesong and will be a free download from the band.

This is pretty cool, and definitely innovative.

For shits and giggles, I added a Poets and Pornstars vidoe I liked. It's cool.

The books are not out yet, but I'll post when they are. Or you can go directly to Decadent Publishing to check out the cool promo stuff they have going on.

My Grandfather had a heart attack last week. He had to go to Riverside Hospital in Columbus to have a heart catheterization done and several stints put in. He's motoring along okay now, but I can tell that this one really took a lot out of him.

*I'm thankful I had two really good visits with him. And my kids as well. And that his 84 year old body is kicking along as well as it is.

Christmas is done! I have a very large family, and we decided long ago that we can not get to every family ON Christmas. We have to break up the visits.

*Yay! I'm thankful Christmas is done...for 11 more months anyway...

While I was in Columbus, I discovered a very nice review at Manic Readers. My first actually. Patrizia gave me a 4.5 out of 5 stars for Second Time Around! Thank you Patrizia, whoever you are...

*I'm thankful that somebody other than a friend told me the story was good.

Overall, it was a pretty humbling weekend. I hope yours was a little less stressful.

So, my book released two days ago, and as special as that is, I'm more touched by all the love and encouragement I am receiving from the people around me. My step-mom seems to be the most excited of anybody, and she doesn't even read my type of romances. I sent her a box of promo items, including postcards with the blurb on the back. She took one of those postcards and made copies for flyers she handed out. How special is that? A little birdy told me she also did an email blast to everybody in her mailbox on my release day. I love her to death for that.

Even my dad admitted he had read some of my story, which just warms my heart. Even if he doesn't finish it, at least he started it.

I honestly believe that you have to have support to be a writer. It is a solitary existence sitting in front of the computer hours on end, and you need family to anchor you. My husband comes in to sit with me in my office, as he is right now, and just having him nearby as I type is sweet.

For Christmas, my in-laws really came through for me too. My sister-in-law got me a subscription to The Writer, which I love but was always too cheap to buy for myself. I received grammar books, including a special hand-made grammar book created by my 7 year old niece about all the grammar rules she had learned were important. I also received The Writer's Toolbox, shown below, which I'm dying to take to a chapter meeting and try out. It gives you random starting points in a story, and the idea is to just open yourself up and let the words flow. You can draw more sticks to throw wrenches into the mix. Very cool.

I was a little leary of exposing my writing to my family, but they have proven to me that they are as special as I always thought they were.

Finally, I am being released. I got my Christmas present. December 28th, a tuesday is my new all-time favorite Day!!!

I don't have a buy link yet, but if you go to the Decadent website I will be there.

I'm at the 30 Days of Decadence Blog today, talking about the magic of Christmas.  I have to say, I really enjoyed sharing that story. Nobody believed me when I talked about it, but they could not refute the pictures. I will always cherish that memory.

So, I had to laugh as I watched Headline News today. According to the New York Times, romance e-book sales are on the rise. Hmm, yeah I had heard that somewhere. I had to laugh at the reasoning, though. Reportedly, more people are buying romances via e-book so that they don't have to conceal what they are reading. No more trying to hide the cheezy Fabio-holding-the- ripped-bodice- virgin cover.  E-books are basically being wrapped in brown paper, just digitally.  

The Times went on to say that publishers are trying to change to accomodate the insatiable need for romances. Harlequin has digitized 10,000 back titles to try to satisfy reader demand. Other large print houses are releasing in e-book now as well as print, and seeing a significant return on investing digital.

The article is very interesting. You should check it out.

I'm going to go write another e-book romance.

Ha...

Well, my book has been delayed, but I still have promo going on. Tomorrow I will be in TWO places. I'll be at the regular Decadent Publishing Blog, and I will also be hangin out at the Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem blog. Stop by and check me out. I'll be haunting both places all day, so feel free to comment! Actually, PLEASE comment. The Moonlight Blog is the first interview I've ever done, so be gentle!!

I have to tell everybody what a wonderful time I had at Joseph-Beth. Everybody was in a good mood, and the staff at the bookstore was phenomenal. They really took care of us. I had to laugh when they brought out this sign for me. Now that's optimism!

Even though you can't see through the crowd, this is Shiloh Walker's table. Wish I had a better picture of her, because she was rockin' the bustier!

Miz Renee Vincent Beaming over her book, Raelikson.

And this is Mrs. Anya Bast, with her hubby in the background. It was so cute, because he wore a shirt with her name on it, promoting her.How sweet!

I actually have several other photos that would not load for some reason. Sorry you can't see them. Maybe I'll see if I can FB them.

Overall, it was a wonderful signing, especially for me. It was my first chance to get out as an author, even though I don't have a physical book. YET!

If you happen to be in Lexington, Ky on Saturday Noveber 20th, be sure to stop in at Joseph-Beth Booksellers between 2 and 4 pm. We are going to have a huge group of our authors there, Including New York Times bestseller Anya Bast, Jules Bennett, Shiloh Walker, Maddie James, Magdalena Scott, Jan Scarbrough, Teresa Reasor, Jennifer Johnson, Tonya Kappes, Renee Vincent, Cat Shaffer, Crystal-Rain Love, Luann McLane and others. Come out and meet your favorite print and e-book authors!