KAILY HART, WRITER

With Love Valentines Day Blog Hop AKA...Win Stuff!

2012-02-10T23:45:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the With Love Valentines Day Blog Hop! This is a wonderful event with a bunch of author's participating and so MANY great prizes up for grabs. Thanks to the wonderful Drea for organizing it :). For those of you who might land here and don't know me, I write hot and steamy romance, contemporary as well as paranormal/urban fantasy real soon. My stories have tough alpha heroes who might be a little rough and rugged around the edges, but when they fall for the heroine? Man, they fall hard. They'd do anything, endure anything, sacrifice anything. For her. Sigh...

So what am I giving away? I'm giving away a $25 dollar gift card to an online book store (winner's choice) AND a copy of any 1 book from my ebook backlist! Not bad, right?

How can you win? Follow me, friend me or follow this blog and leave a comment here through the 14th telling me the most unusual, special, funny, touching thing you ever got or did for Valentines Day! I'll select a random commenter from this post as the winner!

Ready to go hopping and see what else is up for grabs? Click on the badge below and check out the other great participants!! Good luck and have a wonderful Valentines Day!!

And in other news...

2012-02-09T13:03:00.001-05:00

I've been sitting on this news for awhile. Sometimes it feels like an eternity, but my agent (man, I will NEVER get tired of being able to say THAT) gave me the go ahead to spill the beans. Besides, it was posted on Publisher's Marketplace this week, so here goes... My new paranormal/urban fantasy romance series will be published by Carina Press (Harlequin) starting around Septemberish of this year! There are currently 5 books planned in the series and not a vampire or shifter in sight :). It's about an ancient, secret race of humans on the brink of extinction. There's bad guys, good guys and HOT guys LOL. Each book will feature a 'fated pair' as they struggle to learn who and what they are and join the fight to save their race. Although this is a different sub-genre to my contemporary stories, the books still feature hot, alpha heroes, relateable, strong heroines and a deep, emotional love story above everything else.

I can't tell you how excited I am about these books. I've fallen way deep in love with these heroes. Yeah, I know. I say that about all my books. Of course, if I don't fall in love with the hero I'm writing, I don't know how the heroine (or the readers) could :).

I'm super excited on a number of fronts. This will be my first series and I had such fun putting together a broader story arc through the multiple books, in addition to the individual book's story. Also, this is a genre I love to read in. It so liberating and empowering to be able to create your own world, make up all the rules, construct the boundaries. You world build to a certain degree in contemporary, but this gave me much more freedom and allowed my imagination to run wild! Not always a good thing, but I think it turned out well in this case :).

And by the way...I love contemporary too much to give that up, so stay tuned for future books on that front as well! I'm hard at work on a couple of books there.

This year is off to an awesome start!

So where the HECK have I been?

2012-02-02T20:48:00.001-05:00

Well, I have been around, just not here. And of course, I've been writing. A lot. I pop into Facebook and Twitter if you ever want to keep up with what I'm doing, but I have big news. BIG! I signed with a literary agent!! Roberta Brown of Brown Literary Agency is my agent and I'm so very excited. I'm even on her web site and everything! Check it out here. I know, I'll try and restrain myself, but it's hard. At least I'm no longer running around my house singing "I have an agent. I have an agent." LOL. Well, not every day at least.

Landing an agent is one of those major author milestone thingys. At least in my book it is. Some even say it's more difficult than getting the attention of an editor. Having someone knowledgeable in the industry, someone experienced and seasoned when it comes to authors and publishing interested in your work? Interested in you and your potential? Someone who believes in you? THAT is absolutely priceless.

I have more exciting news to share once it's all signed, sealed, delivered and OFFICIAL, but for right now, I'm super psyched with the direction I'm going. Stay tuned :).

What's 'hot'? You tell me & win a book!

2012-01-09T09:23:00.004-05:00

I'm over with author Gail DeYoung today talking about what I think makes a guy a 'hottie'. Trust me, I spend a LOT of time pondering this because the heroes in my books have to appeal on many different levels. Readers are diverse. Preferences are diverse. And still...there are a core group of attributes that most women find appealing when it comes to guys. Go check out my post over with Gail HERE and tell me what YOU think makes a guy a true hottie. I'll be picking a winner at random from Gail's blog comments to receive an ebook from my backlist, winners choice. GO!

WIP it Wednesday

2012-01-04T11:03:00.000-05:00

What better way to get back into the swing of things for this New Year than with a snippet from my current WIP? Actually, I have a few different WIPs going at once this time (*groan*, I know, right?), but I'm really enjoying playing with the paranormal/urban fantasy series I started. The below is from Book 2, Micah & Eve, currently titled Edge of Loyalty. ENJOY!!

Micah moved his hand up to his neck. Alreadythe mark she’d left there had darkened. To know that refined, reserved, inexperience Eve, had been so far goneshe’d given him a hickey when she came still had the power to get him hard. Andkeep him that way.

Happy Almost Christmas!

2011-12-24T11:57:00.000-05:00

To those who celebrate...Happy Almost Christmas!! Ever since I was a kid, Christmas Eve has always felt almost magical to me. It's a day of excitement, hope and good spirit. My eldest kids eagerly put their gifts under the tree this morning for us, each other and the little ones. And then immediately asked if they should take them back in case Santa thinks we already have enough gifts and decides not to leave any more LOL! I love to see them so happy, so excited, so full of life and love :).

Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, or if you celebrate nothing at all, best wishes to you and your family. Here's to a new year filled with health, happiness and productivity! I've planned 2012 to be a key year for me writing-wise. I plan to ramp up my writing output, open up some new avenues, get my books a wider distribution and try out some new things, including some longer lengths. I hope you'll join me!

Stay safe, consume much and laugh loud with those you love and who love you!

Kaily

And the winner is....

2011-12-19T21:33:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to kaisquared!!! Chosen by random number selection, you've won a $25 gift card to the online book store of your choice along with your choice of one of my ebooks!! I'll be sending you an email to work out the details :). Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by. I loved hearing about your favorite holiday memories and the things you most enjoy about the holiday season!

Stuff Your Stockings Christmas Blog Hop!!

2011-12-16T13:38:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Stuff Your Stockings Christmas Blog Hop! This is an amazing event with so many authors participating and so many great prizes. Thanks to the wonderful Drea for organizing it :). For those of you who might land here and don't know me, I write hot and steamy romance...with an emphasis on hot. My stories have tough alpha heroes who might be a little rough and rugged around the edges, but when they fall for the heroine? Man, they fall hard. They'd do anything, endure anything, sacrifice anything. For her. Sigh...

So what am I giving away? I'm giving away a $25 dollar gift card to an online book store (winner's choice) AND a copy of any 1 book from my ebook backlist! Not bad, right?

How can you win? Follow me, friend me or follow this blog and leave a comment here telling me what you enjoy most about the holidays! I'll select a random commenter from this post as the winner!

Ready to go hopping and see what else is up for grabs? Click on the badge below and check out the other great participants!! Good luck and happy holidays!!

And the winner is.....

2011-12-12T12:40:00.003-05:00

Patty (skyjax02 at yahoo.com)!! Congratulations!! I'll be reaching out to you for your book choice. Thanks so much to everyone for the birthday wishes and for stopping by! You're all so awesome. Made my day, that's for sure :)!

So it's my birthday & I'll give away stuff if I want to...

2011-12-09T09:56:00.001-05:00

So what am I doing to celebrate? You had to ask LOL. I have to rush my daughter to the dentist this morning. She lost a filling yesterday. I was at the doctors office myself yesterday (5 hour door-2-door trip) and he gave me the wonderful news that I have bronchitis and possibly phemonia. Sigh... I'll be getting a chest x-ray early this afternoon. I'm OK with taking my clothes off on my birthday, more than, but for an x-ray? :) I could have done without that. I also have air conditioner repair men under foot all day at the house. One of our units completely broke down and they need to rebuild it. For 4 hours! Thousands of dollars worth of repairs. So thankful I had the forsight to buy an extended warranty plan for it. And to top it all off, tonight it's my daughter's Girl Scout court of awards so we'll be rounding out the evening with s'mores and hot chocolate. Of course it will probably reach 80 degrees here today so not exactly the welcome snack it could be. I live an exciting life, don't I? I really know how to celebrate in style, yes? You probably wish you too could have this much fun on your birthday!

Anyway, it is my birthday but I thought I'd turn the tables and be the one giving away stuff! Through 11:59 pm Eastern tomorrow (cause I'm hoping tomorrow will be better, MUCH better), I'll pick a commenter on this blog to win either a signed copy of my print anthology OR any 3 of my ebooks. Winners choice. Not bad, right?

You can leave a random comment or tell me what's the best or worst birthday (or present) you ever had! GO!

Special Guest - Lorraine Nelson

2011-11-26T10:41:00.001-05:00

I have the pleasure today of welcoming Lorraine Nelson to my blog. I 'met' Lorraine awhile ago now on a writing forum. It's funny how you develop these relationships over time, but may never actually meet in person. The internet has made such connections possible. I knew Lorraine had been writing for a long time, aspiring to be published, trudging the submission and rejection cycle and I was rooting for her to make it almost from the first SO I'm pleased to have her here to talk about her latest release :) with such an inspiring post. Take it away, Lorraine!

Some people (Irefuse to name names) have commented on the fact that I’ve left it too late tobe a success as an author. After all, my children are all grown up and (gasp!)I have grandchildren.

Do you want toknow what I think? It’s never too late to dream and to actively pursue a goal!

Anyone whopersists in achieving their dream is a success in my book.

Even if I’d neverbeen published, writing fills a need, a restlessness inside me. I can’tremember a time when I didn’t write, jotting down short stories (back then onlya page or two or six) or poetry. I love rhyming, making thoughts connect,telling a simple story through words.

When my childrenwere small, I enjoyed reading to them, imparting my love of the written word. Ieven wrote and published a couple of books and posters aimed at their agegroup. The learning experience involved in that was unreal…challenging andrewarding in equal measure.

I’d tried towrite what I enjoy reading, but with a full-time job and kids at home, I rarelyhad a spare minute to myself. I applaud anyone who can write with childrenunder foot. I certainly can’t. J

Peace and quietis the rule of thumb for me.

In the past twoand a half years that I’ve lived alone, I’ve written eight full-length novelsand three novellas. I also have six novels in various stages of completion,including the one I just started today. Writing involves a continual learningcurve. I learn something new with each manuscript I write. I’ve also learnedthat you can’t always ‘write what you know’, especially when your characterstake you in the opposite direction. I’ve had to research oodles of stuff, butit’s all good.

Zakia and theCowboy was rejected seven times before being picked up by Evernight Publishing.To date, I’ve suffered more rejections than I care to count, but each oneserved its purpose by making me more determined than ever to succeed. “I can dothis” became my mantra. The thought of giving up never crossed my mind. I lovewriting! Positive thinking is the key. Don’t let the negatives bog you down. Learnfrom those rejections and keep striving to craft the best story possible.

The day Ireceived the contract offer from Evernight, I couldn’t believe it. It took afew days for it to sink in, but once I received that gorgeous cover, designedby the fabulous Dara England,I knew it was very real indeed.

Since the releaseof my debut novel in October, Zakia and the Cowboy has been a phenomenalsuccess, appearing on several Bestseller lists and becoming a Featured Title atAll Romance Ebooks for three weeks. Better than that were the reader reviews.They’d enjoyed it and wanted more. Luckily, I had more planned. J

Covert Mission: Undercover Copis Samantha Muldoon and Blake Northrup’s story. It’s the second book in theThunder Creek Ranch series and I was lucky enough to have Dara design thiscover as well. It perfectly complements the Cover for Book 1. I’m eagerlyawaiting its release on November 28^th, but I’m anxious, too. Will itentertain my readers and give them as much joy as Zakia and Luke’s story did? Ithink so. I definitely hope so. It was such a joy to write.

I rememberfalling in love with Blake when I wrote Book 1. And Sam, well, she’s a feisty,independent woman who challenges him at every turn.

Book 3 is writtenand once it’s edited, it’ll be off to Evernight as well. I’ve started writingBook 4, and the words are flowing great.
Have I left it too late to become a successful author?No, I don’t think so, and according to reader reviews, they don’t either. J

I so love hearing from my readers! It’s important to know what works anddoesn’t work for them as I continue to craft stories of love and mystery. Youcan find me at:

http://www.lorrainenelson.weebly.com
http://lorrainenelson.wordpress.com
http://www.facebook.com/LorraineNelson.Author
http://twitter.com/#!/lornelca
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5254629.Lorraine_Nelson
http://www.amazon.com/Lorraine-Nelson/e/B005XMAYFQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Thank you for having me here today, Kaily. It’s been fun.

Thanks, Lorraine for your wonderful words!! Your journey is one to be admired.

One commenter will receive a free download, their choice, Thunder CreekRanch, Book 1, Zakia and the Cowboy, or Book 2, Covert Mission:Undercover Cop (releasing Nov 28th). You must be a follower of LORRAINE'S blog to be eligible. So leave your comments and/or questions and I’ll do my bestto answer. :)

Why I'm thankful to be a writer

2011-11-24T09:06:00.001-05:00

It's Thanksgiving here in the US and we're celebrating it in traditional style. Hubby will cook an elaborate feast, we'll stuff ourselves and then complain about how much we ate for the rest of the day LOL. I've been looking at posts for a couple days that talk about what people are thankful for. I'm incredibly fortunate and thankful for so many things, but at the top of that list is my family. I have a husband who only annoys me like 13% of the time :) and happy, wonderful kids who haven't managed to serisouly injure each other yet. What's not to be thankful for, right?

The other thing I'm incredibly thankful for is being a writer because it's only relatively recently that I even knew it's what I wanted to do. I've already had one successful, rewarding career. It was challening, engaging, satisfying and even fun, but it wasn't my passion, it didn't drive me, it didn't consume me, I didn't need it. That's what writing is, all of that. It's the career of my heart. And this is why I'm thankful for being a writer:

There's no dress code. If I like, I can wear my PJs all day. Of course, the kids don't like it when I have to do drop offs at school that way, but the additional sick pleasure I get from torturing them is just an added bonus.
I get to work from home. All the time. Within shouting distance of the fridge, the coffee machine and the left over Halloween candy. Okay, okay, that's not exactly a perk LOL.
I'm the CEO of my own business. I'm my own boss and get to set my own hours, develop strategy and decide where I'm headed with all of this. I don't answer to anyone. Of course, that means if I slack off I have to kick my own ass.
I get to write about sex. A lot. I get to come up with the ways my characters will get it on and how they'll get off. And I have to be careful. They can't get too much, too soon. What would be the fun in that?
I get to construct the perfect man. Every book. Alpha? Check! Hot? Check! Knows his way around a woman's body? Check! Sacrifice anything for his heroine? Check! Sigh....
I get to hang around online. What!? Hey, it's 'marketing and promotion'. Right? Regardless :), it enables me to interact with people I never would have otherwise, readers and writers alike, and I LOVE that immediate connection. Of course, if I do it too much, see point number 3 above.
I am the grand ruler of the entire universe!!!! In my books, that is. I decide everything, down to the smallest detail about my characters and who they are, what they want, how they act, their dreams, goals and fears. I get to torture them mercilessly before I give them their happily ever after, but I haven't heard any complaints from them so far.

See? Pretty cool, huh? That's what I'm thinking about today - how thankful I am that I'm doing what I love, surrounded by people I love.

H A P P Y T H A N K S G I V I N G to those who celebrate it and if not, why not be thankful for soemthing anyway? I'd love to hear what YOU'RE thankful for!!

Just Published - Kelly Boyce

2011-11-13T22:09:00.001-05:00

It is with great pleasure I welcome Kelly Boyce to Just Published this month. I stumbled upon Kelly on the interwebs and realized she'd recently had a release from Carina Press. I'd never included a Carina Press author on this segment before! Huh. How could that have happened? I made haste to rectify that as quickly as possible and here she is :).

The details of Kelly's first published book are:

Title: The Outlaw Bride
Genre: Western Historical Romance
Words: 79,200
Publisher: Carina Press
Date Published: April 18, 2011

Blurb:

Whatwould you risk to keep a promise? Katherine Slade has two goals: to escape her outlaw husband and to findthe family of the man who died saving her life. Taking the place of amail-order bride isn't part of her plan—until she's forced to continue thecharade and become Sheriff Connor Langston's housekeeper to stay out ofjail. Pretending to be another woman is hard, but Katherine's realchallenge is resisting her growing attraction to the handsome lawman...

Falling in love is the last thing Connor needs, even if the rest ofFatal Bluff wants him to. His hands are full with a band of outlaws threateningthe safety of his town, and a child to raise. But Kate has a way of gettingunder his skin and into little Jenny's heart. Soon Connor can't get the fierybeauty out of his head—along with his suspicion that Kate isn't who she claimsto be.

When Connor learns the truth about Kate, is there any way for thisoutlaw bride to become the sheriff's wife?

What an absolutely gorgeous cover. It really is beautiful. So...howwould you describe what you write?
Forthe most part, I would say my writing is an emotional story tempered withhumor. I like to explore some darker elements, but inevitably humor alwayscrops up to keep things from getting too mired down. I love stories with aredemption theme and seem to be drawn to writing them. I’m a huge history buff,so my natural inclination is to set my stories in the past, however I readbooks across the board in all types of genres and styles and while I lovehistoricals, I have no plans on writing strictly in the historical genre, butplan to branch out into others, mainly YA, which is where I started, andcontemporary. I also have a legal thriller kicking around in my cranium that Imay need to deal with eventually. I find this helps keep my writing and ideas freshand the process more enjoyable.

Wow, that's awesome. I find myself a good story is a good story, regardless of genre. What’syour writing process in a nutshell?
I am a mad plotter. For me, plotting the story and thecharacters out beforehand is the fun part and it really helps me get a handleon these people and what their issues are. I often follow a story structuresuch as the 3 Act Structure and Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet. I also like to storyboard my outline as well. I’ve just downloaded Scrivener and can’t wait tostart using it. However, once my outline is complete, it is never written instone. When I’m writing things will come up and I’ll realize there’s a betterway to do something or a better direction to move the story in. When thishappens, I’ll usually stop and map it out, to make sure I’m not getting offtrack and that the new idea works best. Then it’s back to the writing again. Inever do character interviews, but I will do an extensive backstory on the heroand heroine and the villain as well.

I'm a supporter of the detailed character backstory as well :)! What has your submission history looked like?
I started writing at age 8, but I wrote my first manuscript when I was18. A YA murder mystery that I would still love to go back to and revise. Mynext manuscript was a western historical romance I wrote in my early 20s. It’sstill a story near and dear to my heart, so that one will be coming back ofstorage for a revision sometime in the near future. After I finished thatmanuscript I really didn’t know what to do with it, or where to go. I enteredit into a contest a publisher was having and didn’t win (might have hadsomething to do with all the head hopping, backstory dump and the fact it wasover 600 pages long!). After that, real life took over. I picked away at mywriting here and there but it wasn’t until I was laid off from my job of15 years in 2002 I had a change in perspective. I realized writing was what Iwas meant to be doing and I really needed to get on that. My mom gave me aninterview Julianne MacLean did in our local paper. I tracked her down andasked for some advice and she led me to RWA and our local chapter RomanceWriters of Atlantic Canada. That was a huge game-changer for me. Istarted writing The Outlaw Bride. The manuscript won or placed in a fewcontests, I had requests, it was either rejected or the editor/agent changedhouses, moved, left the business (I was starting to think I was jinxed!).Eventually I set it aside. Westerns were a hard sell and not too manypublishers were buying them. No problem. I had this great idea for a 4 bookVictorian series with an over-arching plot of murder and intrigue linkingthe four stories together. I entered Desire & Brimstone in contests, wonand placed in several, had requests, was asked to take part in a documentary,Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings, as one of the featured authors along with KaylaPerrin and Kathryn Smith. Eventually, the manuscript was rejected by a handfulof agents and a couple of editors (or the editor/agent moved, left thebusiness, etc). I realized the story still needed work, so I set it aside towrite another western historical (currently under consideration) and the firstof a 3-book series set in Regency England. I also wrote first drafts of acontemporary and a YA. The road to publication has not been easy. There is a biglearning curve and a lot of rejection along the way. I think the key is to knowthis going in and accept it as part of the job. Learn what you can from it andmove on. Understand it isn’t the end of the world, just a bump in the road.Drive over it and keep going.

I think there are very few authors who had an easy road to publication. I think it makes success that much sweeter. How did you pick Carina Press to publish your first book?
I really loved TheOutlaw Bride and I knew it was a story worth telling and worth selling, butmost publishers seemed to want regency and only a few were taking westerns. I’ma strong believer that a good story is a good story and will eventually find ahome, so I never gave up the idea of selling The Outlaw Bride. I had initiallybeen reluctant to go the e-publishing route, but as it started to gain a strongfoothold I re-evaluated my opinion and realized it was a growing force and Iwanted to be a part of it with a reputable publisher. When Carina opened forbusiness, a friend, Lilly Cain, published with them and was impressed. I lookedinto them, liked what I saw with respect to the fact they had the Harlequin musclebehind them, a well-respected Executive Editor in Angela James, and a solidplatform. I sent The Outlaw Bride to them as a full and crossed my fingers.

Well it worked! And how. What’s your ‘call’ story?
I was at work when I got thecall. I was on my work phone talking to then boyfriend/now husband when my cellphone rang. I saw the number, hung up on my boyfriend and took the call. It wasAngela James calling me to tell me they loved The Outlaw Bride and wanted topublish it. I think my first words to her were – “That was totally worthhanging up on my boyfriend for!” (He’s since forgiven me!) Naturally Iwanted to scream and jump around but since I was at work and didn’t want myco-workers to think I’d completely lost my mind, I was relegated to doing ahappy dance in my chair along with a few arm pumps. After I hung up I sat in mychair in a total brain freeze for about five seconds staring at my computerscreen and trying to figure out if that had actually just happened. Then, whenthe brain freeze wore off, I called my boyfriend back to let him know what hadhappened then emailed and called the rest of my friends and family to give themthe news.

LOL. I love hearing call stories!! Did you have an agent when you sold? Now?
Ididn’t have an agent when I sold. I didn’t need one for Carina Press. I don’thave one now either, although once I finish the manuscript I’m working on now(the regency historical) I will start shopping around.

What’s it like working with a publisher and editor? Are revisionsreally as bad as you hear?
My editor, Elizabeth Bass, was so incrediblyawesome. She really made the process painless, and by the time I sent TheOutlaw Bride to Carina, it had been through about 6-8 revisions already, so itwas pretty clean. There were a few minor revisions, but nothing extensive. Somy first experience in that regard was pretty good. Carina Press has beenwonderful to work with too. They’re very pro-author, work to promote you, giveyou plenty of guidance on how to do things etc. Overall, my first foray intothe publishing world has been very positive.

So glad you had such a great experience. How did you feel the first time you saw your cover? How much inputdid you have?
I filled out a sheet…which has a name that I forget at themoment! I’m not sure how much of it was used in the process, but I loved thecover they came up with, so it was all good. That was my main fear – getting acover that made me cringe. So to get one I loved was a huge relief. I alsoloved the fact I was able to keep my original title too.

The cover really is awesome. What was release day like for you?
It was exciting to wake up inthe morning and realize – Wow, today is the day my book is released! It’s alittle surreal. But again, real life. I still had to get up and go to the dayjob and deal with all of that. It added a little perspective. We had myhusband’s son that night so we couldn’t go out to celebrate – again, real life,right? But we had a bottle of wine and I had congratulatory emails from myfriends etc. And the thrill of knowing what that day represented to me – thefirst release day of many!! – was a nice high that lasted all day long.

How did you market your book?
I will say marketing isnot my forte. I’m working on it, and I’m learning as I go, but it’s an ongoingthing. Carina do a blog post and Facebook notices etc from their end which wasgreat, but I also had to hit the social media market and get the word outthere. I did a blog tour, I tweeted, my website had been revamped, my Facebookpage was given a workout, joined Goodreads, attended the RWA Nationalconference. I did a few marketing things locally as a group with my RWAC crew(strength in numbers!). I’m still working on the marketing as well all thesemany months later. I think it’s essential to keep your name and your book outthere and find new ways to reach new readers. I’m currently reading up on newways to market your book and hoping to get some new ideas.

Yeah, it's also one of those things that is impossible to assess what really works and what doesn't, right? What’s the most surprising thing you learned during the publishingprocess?
I’m not sure I learned anything new about getting published onlybecause I had good friends who had gone before me and they were such a greatwealth of information and advice. Also, working with Carina was a wonderfulexperience and an easy one. As for what I would do differently, I wish I hadBook 2 in the Fatal Bluff series ready, or at least almost ready to go, when Isubmitted The Outlaw Bride, so there would have been less time betweenreleases. But at the time I was in the middle of another book, then afterconference I had several requests for other books, and I’ve discovered thereare not enough hours in the day!!

Yeah, right? What do you think were the factors that got you published?
Ithink the first thing that worked in my favor was perseverance. I reallybelieved in my book and that a good story would find a home. I never lost sightof this fact and continued to learn my craft, improve my writing and my knowledgeof the industry and just kept plugging away until I found the right home forThe Outlaw Bride. The second factor was having my manuscript in the absolutebest shape I could get it in. By the time I sent it to Carina, there wasnothing left I could do to it to make it a better story. That manuscript isgoing to be your calling card to publishers and it’s essential it is as good asyou can make it.

I actually think perseverance is one of the most critical things for a writer to have. What’s your 5 year plan look like?
I justfinished working on my writing plan for the next two years and it’s lookingpretty busy. The Fatal Bluff series has 4 more books in it which need to bewritten. The regency series has a request on it, so that needs to get done, aswell as Desire & Brimstone and a YA series. So all of those need to getdone and get sent out. Another goal I am working on is to have enough productout in the market to justify dropping my day job down to part-time to allow formore writing time. But that will depend on what I can accomplish in the nexttwo years. My plan is to target all areas of publishing – traditional,e-publishing, and eventually self-publishing, and as I said earlier I expect tobe writing in several genres, not just historical. In 5 years my ultimate goalwill be to be writing full time with at a minimum 3-4 releases per year invarying formats, to be a recognizable name in the industry, and to grow mycraft so my writing continues to improve.

So, what’s next for you?
Next up for me is to finishBook 2 & 3 in the Fatal Bluff series, tentatively titled The Widow Brideand The Scandalous Bride respectively. These two books will tell the stories ofthe other two mail order brides on the train Kate Spade rode into Fatal Bluffon. After that, there is a certain bounty hunter and saloon owner who will eachget their own books. I am also completing revisions on Book 1 in my regencyseries, An Invitation to Scandal, which will be sent out to a publisher onrequest. I also have a western historical under consideration with anotherpublisher, so fingers crossed that works out.

That's awesome. What’s the best advice you can impart to writers aspiring to bepublished?
I think the best advice I can give is to treat it like a job. Iget up at 5am every morning to write before work because that is the only way Ican fit it into my schedule and make it a daily habit. It isn’t something youcan just pick away at and hope it works out. Write every day, or at least 5days a week. Hone your craft. Learn the industry. Don’t buckle under rejection,it’s a temporary setback, not the end of the road. And no matter what, keepgoing. Keep trying. Keep learning. And keep writing. Perseverance is key.

Great advice. I love that. Now for some fun! If you were stranded on a desert island butcould only take 1 thing from each of the following categories, what would it be& why:

Person – I’d take my husband. He’s a lot of fun to hang out with.

Animal – I have a 2 year old golden retriever, Cedar, who is the biggestclown out there. I’d take him for the entertainment value alone.

Food – I’m trying to figure out how to combine wine, bread, cheese andchocolate into one word… I’ll go with cheese. I’ve never met a cheese I didn’tlike.

Book – Oh wow…how do you pick just one?? Elizabeth Chadwick is one of myfavorite authors so I would likely pick the next book of hers I had to read.

Music – I’m currently a big Adele and Christina Perri fan, so probably oneof those. Of course that would mean belting out the tunes along with them whichmight have my husband swimming for the next island…

Personal Item – My knitting (it’s my otherobsession next to writing).

You can find out more about Kelly from her website or connect with her on Facebook or Twitter!

Website: www.kellyboyce.com

Facebook: Kelly Boyce, Author - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-Boyce-Author/167747449914858

Twitter: @KellyLBoyce - http://twitter.com/#!/KellyLBoyce
Thank you, Kelly for being such a good sport and answering my totally unsolicited email! I've enjoyed getting to know you and I loved hearing about your journey so far and your fabulous plans for the future. I wish you wonderful successes moving forward!

WIP It Wednesday

2011-11-02T14:43:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I know, I've neglected my blog a bit over the past month and I STILL have to get up a post about the time I had at RomantiCon. It was awesome by the way :). But I've been writing. A lot. So that's all good, right? AND I made it through Halloween without eating too much of the candy myself. Now to just throw out a bit each day without the kids actually noticing. Wish me luck on that one!

Hopefully, the books I've been working on will be worth the wait. The one I just typed 'the end' on today (Yay!!!!) is probably the book I've most enjoyed writing to date. It's got the requisite alpha hero and the strong, but vulnerable heroine, but it overlays a more involved and detailed plot. I'm really excited about it. The below snippet comes from that book (warning, it's a bit naughty!). Did I mention it's book 1 in what I hope will be a 5 book series? No? Well, this would be my first series and I've had a blast working on the overall story arc. Each book has it's own hero & heroine, but there's a broader story unfolding with a little bit revealed in each book along the way. Book 1 is Seth & Devon's story. He's rough and rugged, rude and crude, but by the end of the story he'd do anything, sacrifce anything, for Devon. And he very nearly does. Sigh... ENJOY!

*****

“Touch it. Feelit,” he rasped, when her wide eyes dropped to his cock. “Be sure this is whatyou want inside you.”

She swallowed, wether lips. He could be easy on her, but she needed to be sure. He needed to know she was sure. Hejerked at the contact when she clasped him gently, softly. It was an effortjust to keep his eyes from rolling back in his head. The pressure wasn’t nearlyhard enough, not the way he liked it, but it didn’t matter, his knees justabout buckled with the pleasure all the same.

“I just want you inside me, Seth,”she whispered, raising her gaze to his. “You,with your....."

And the winners are...

2011-11-01T10:08:00.000-04:00

By spreadsheet random number generator (RANDBETWEEN for spreadsheet freaks like me LOL), the winners of my Halloween giveaway are:

shadow_kohler
Kathryn Merkel
flchen1
mahalia2010

You each get to choose any one of my ebooks!! Let me know which one you'd like (Picture This, Pay Up, Play Me or Point Blank) by email to kaily @ kailyhart . com and I'll send it right off to you. If you'd like to check out an excerpt first, you can see them all here.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween if you celebrate it where you live ,and if not, I hope you at least got to over indulge with the sugar (although I really could have done without that).

It's Halloween & I'm giving stuff away...

2011-10-28T07:54:00.000-04:00

I love Halloween. It's probably one of the things I've most enjoyed about living in the US. It's all about FUN and I get such a kick out of how much the kids really get into it SO.. it seemed appropriate to join a Halloween Blog Hop to celebrate!!

It starts TODAY, Friday, October 28th and goes through Monday, October 31st and I'm giving away books!! I'll be picking four winners, yes FOUR winners from comments on my blog through Monday. Each winner can have their choice of any of my ebooks. All you have to do is tell me what YOU love about Halloween (or don't). I'll announce the winners on Tuesday. Here!

There's a ton of other authors participating all giving away something on their own blogs. Be sure to check them all out HERE to follow the Hop around and see what else is up for grabs!!!

Below are some of the more interesting pumpkins I've seen so far. Some people have WAY too much time on their hands if you ask me :).

So...who wants Romance Trading Cards?

2011-10-07T11:04:00.000-04:00

I went ahead and got Romance Trading Cards done for my first three books. They're a fun thing to have at conferences and just to hand out to people. Although a lot of authors do bookmarks, I can't help think that most people probably have no use for them anymore. You know, future generations probably won't even be able to relate to them at all! The trading cards were also really great fun to have made. I got to pick and choose the content and I loved coming up with the line of dialogue on each of them. Warning: one of them has a bad word, a very bad word LOL. I posted pictures of these (front and back) on a prior post and have them up on my albums on Facebook if you'd like to take a book, but I have one for each of Picture This, Pay Up and Play Me.

If you'd like one (or all), just send me an email letting me know at kaily at kailyhart dot com with your address and I'll send them out to you. Oh and indicate whether you'd like them signed or not :).

WIP it Wednesday

2011-10-05T00:30:00.000-04:00

I'm back from RomantiCon and trying to get back into the swing of things. I'm suffering from extreme author withdrawal without all my writer friends around LOL. Extreme! I'm in the process of getting my pictures together and loading some video to share, but in the meantime thought you might enjoy a snippet from my WIP. It's Seth and Devon and he's having a 'hard' time. I feel so bad about torturing him so, but he'll thank me for it later. They both will :). ENJOY!

“Have you ever evenseen a naked man? Aroused?”

“You mean hard?”Her eyes dropped to his hips. “Like you are?”

Christ, the wideeyes were answer enough. He took a deep breath. He didn’t need herromanticizing this, him.

“Devon, this isjust sex. You want it—fine—but—”

“Oh, gee, thanks.”

“But understandgoing in, that’s all it is. And it’s…sex is hot and sweaty. It’s not soft andgentle. At least it’s not with me.”

At the end of this month, 3 years ago...

2011-09-24T09:56:00.000-04:00

...I decided to write a book. The prior month I'd quit my 'high-powered' job to spend more time with my kids and 'relax'. I was going to take photography classes, I was going to learn how to sew, I was going to become more involved at the school, perhaps take up tennis and maybe *gasp* I might do some cooking.Yeah, that one probably wasn't going to happen. 6 weeks later I was stir crazy LOL. I had this romanticized idea of what it might be like to stay home, I dreamt about all the things I thought I was missing, and I fantasized about all the wonderful things I could do if I just had some time to myself. It might have taken a lot longer than 6 weeks for others, but it's hard to go from having 1,000,000 things to do to only having say... 50,000. I have 4 kids. It's not like I don't have enough to occupy my time, but I just needed something else, something cerebral. I'd always read, even snatches of 10 minutes here and there and it had been mostly romance.

I convinced myself I could write one of those. Sure, why not? I must have read hundreds of books. How hard could it be? It took me about 3 months to write Love's Fugitive. Now you're probably wondering...huh, I've never heard of that book. Well, there's a very good reason for that :). It. Will. Never. See. The. Light. Of. Day. At least in it's current form. You see, it's one of those I call 'it served it's purpose' manuscripts. Yeah, it served it purpose in proving to me I could actually write a full length book, because I did it. It's surprising the number of people that begin on this path and never actually finish a book. It was also a HUGE learning experience. Romance isn't easy to write, especially not straight contemporary. There aren't exaggerated plot devices you can use to amp up the tension, the interest, there's not much room for a bunch of secondary characters to add flavor. It just the hero and heroine and you better make them relatable, you better make him sexy and you better get the conflict right or the story is going to be a big yawn. It also helped me find my 'voice' because before you actually go through the ~~torture~~ effort of writing a book, especially that first one, your own voice is really hard to quantify. And voice is everything for an author, if you ask me.

Of course, at the time, when I finished the book, I thought it was the best thing ever. And it was for me at that point. I thought surely a publisher would snap it right up LOL. Um, no, that's not exactly how this works. The following year was a huge learning curve, particularly when it came to understanding how the publishing industry works and the business of publishing and exactly how freaking long it can sometimes take to get a response, any response.

It's weird to look back because I have learned so much. I've come a long way since that first manuscript. I've accomplished a lot of milestones, achieved a lot of goals. Of course, I've only just began on this journey and I'm nowhere near done. Not by a long shot!!

RomantiCon 2011! One Week & Counting..

2011-09-22T16:01:00.001-04:00

It's hard to believe it's only a week until RomantiCon. I went to this conference last year for the first time and it ROCKED. I had such a great time, met so many fantastic authors and got the opportunity to do my very first book signing. It was so very cool. This time next week I'll be on a plane on the way to Ohio. Hopefully, I'll be kicking back, relaxing and reading a good book, anticipating the great time I'm going to have. Hopefully, I WON'T be completely frazzled about having left everything to the last minute and have had to rush around like a crazy woman to get everything ready just making my flight. Whew.

It's weird. I'm such an organized person. Usually. But when it comes to these conferences, even though I know about them months in advance, it still comes down to that final week to get ready. The good news is...I've got a lot of stuff done. The bad news is there are still things not done LOL. And of course, I'm trying to get a book finished. At least the entire thing drafted. Well, it's drafted, but it's my version of 'draft', which probably translates to anyone else's hot mess. Sometimes I wonder how these books end up being the finished product they become.

Oh, and I know you're going to be jealous, but look who's going to be there? Just some cavemen. And if you' re in the Akron area on October 2nd? Come to the book signing! Cavemen will be there and I hear they're performing. Should be a really great time. And I'd LOVE to see you!! The details are below:

Sunday October 2nd - Noon - 4:00 pm
Ramada Plaza - Akron, OH
20 West Mill Street

Akron, OH 44308 US

Oh, and the caveman in the back row on the right? He's on the cover of my book, PERFECTLY UNEXPECTED. My mission? Get a photo with him. Wish me luck!

I'm Giving Away A Book!!

2011-09-19T19:28:00.004-04:00

I'm giving away a copy of Perfectly Unexpected my print book over on Goodreads!! If the link below doesn't work, simply go here. I'll even sign it! This contains three novellas - Picture This, Pay Up and Play Me. Once I receive my additional copies I'll give some more away. Stay tuned :)!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Perfectly Unexpected

by Kaily Hart

Giveaway ends September 27, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I've Got...Trading Cards!!

2011-09-18T13:52:00.000-04:00

I'm headed to the Ellora's Cave RomantiCon convention and book signing at the end of this month. I'm really excited. Last year it was so much fun and I met so many great people. I've been thinking of swag and promo for awhile and just couldn't ignore Romance Trading Cards. I have other stuff too, although these were really fun to have made :). I have a card for each of Picture This, Pay Up and Play Me. What's on them you ask? Well, the heroes of course. What else? It is all about 'him' anyway, right? So I have a card for Sam, Rio and Gabe. Sigh... In regards to what to put on them I decided to include a brief description, a short sentence or two on what their 'problem is' and a line of dialogue from them from the book. THAT was fun to go back and find a quote. I tried to make it PG, but for Gabe I just couldn't resist. His quote is decidedly R-rated. But that's fine. That's Gabe. He wouldn't have it any other way.

What do you think? After RomantiCon I thought I'd post a call for people who might want cards, but can't get to events like the book signing in Ohio so that I could send some out. I'd sign them, of course. You know, if you're interested :). Stay tuned!

Daisy Harris - Why I Write

2011-09-16T09:09:00.000-04:00

I have the fabulously witty and hugely talented, Daisy Harris here with me today. When Daisy and I talked about her blogging she asked what I thought she should talk about, what my readers might be interested in. It wasn't difficult because I asked the question I always REALLY want to ask other writers; what drives you to write what you do? The answers are usually just so diverse and straight up fascinating. So, I think I'll just pull up a chair and hand it over to Daisy. Daisy?

*********************

Hi Kaily! Thanks for having me on the blog today. You posedan interesting question in your email of why I write what I write. It got methinking…

Well, first off—I write mainly because I’m incapable ofdoing anything else. I have no organizational skills to speak of and I despiseresponsibility. My main skills arelearning, and making sh*t up. And when I write, I get to do both!

I also like to write about science. Most of my stories fallunder the category of “paranormal,” but they generally walk the line betweensci-fi and paranormal. My favorite thing about science is its lack of emotion.There’s this cool detachment in research—even when the topic being studied isincredibly emotional, and even when the study itself is morally questionable. Iadore the sheen of cool that a scientific outlook provides.

That cold detachment provides a jumping off point for theemotions of the story. I have a hard time writing feelings in a vacuum. Emowerewolves and drama-laden heroines freak me out. I need distance and action and plot devices. Ineed a smooth, hard wall of “fact” as a launching point for the feelings underthe surface.

For example, in my new release STUDENSTEIN, my hero Royce isa Love-Bot controlled remotely by his builders. At the start of the book, he’sengaging in a BDSM scene with a “client,” but his actions are mechanical. He’sliterally following a script in his mind, and checking my heroine Shani out atthe same time. I love the concept that something as intimate as sex can bebroken down into a clinical array of motions and actions.

When Shani takes Royce away from his network, he’s in manyways lost. Without directions scrolling through his mind, he isn’t sure how tothink or feel. It’s no co-incidence that Royce and Shani spend time in thewoods together. I love to get my cut-and-dried love-bots out into nature. Inthis case—a campground. The buzzing lights of the bathrooms contrast with therustling of trees, the RV they’re driving is a lone piece of machinery fightingto function with only a water and electrical hook-up. It’s a science-meets-edenwonderland!

My machines always end up in the woods, or at sea, or in theforest. For me, there’s nothing hotter than breaking down the clinical andletting the emotions sing through.

Wanna read more? Check out Studenstein, on saleTODAY at Ellora’s Cave!

Blurb

Aman built for sex… A woman who wants more…

Freedomfighter Shani Brown is determined to drag the ungrateful Royce back to her teamin Seattle. Despite his denial of mistreatment, she wants to give him a chanceat a better life. Due to her horrific past as an unlicensed love-bot, Shaninever plans to have sex again. But Royce’s makers punish him remotely withcrippling pain. His only escape is to orgasm. Never one to turn her back on ajob, Shani soon finds herself servicing him—and soon after, caring for him.

Love-bot Royce Hardenwasn’t looking to be rescued, especially not from the San Francisco BDSM clubwhere he was having a perfectly good time. But rescued he was—by a hellcat benton delivering him to her people. As Royce starts to trust Shani, he begins todream of freedom. But freedom comes with a price. Royce must face his vanity,his makers, and even the loss of his sexual upgrades if he’s going to be theman Shani deserves.

About Daisy

Birkenstock-wearing glamour girl and mother of twoby immaculate conception, Daisy Harris still isn’t sure if she writes erotica.Her paranormal romances start out innocently enough. However, her charactersbehave like complete sluts. Much to Miss Harris’s dismay, the sex tends to getcompletely out of hand.

Ifyou like science-y subplots, fantastical creatures, and red-hot chemistry,you’ll love Daisy Harris. You can find her on Twitter,Facebook and at www.thedaisyharris.com.

*********************

Daisy, it was so awesome to have you here today and I just love the premise of your story. Good luck with it!

WIP it Wednesday

2011-09-15T14:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, it's Thursday already, so sue me LOL. I'm been engrossed in my WIP this week trying to finalize the high level plot for my new book. It's a more complicated story, with more 'danger' elements and I've enjoyed being in my hero's head for most of the week. Seth has been a hard nut to crack, but I think I did it and I thought I'd share just a taste of him. Enjoy!

Seth let out a rough breath. He didn’t have thetemperament for this type of mission. He wasn’t the hand holding type, didn’thave a diplomatic bone in his body, and didn’t give a shit about anyone’s‘feelings’. And that was on a good day.

Wanna talk condoms?

2011-09-13T09:15:00.003-04:00

I do and am over with Tina Donahue today. This is a key thing for me when writing romance and I do agonize over doing it right. I want to ensure the right balance of realism while maintaining the fantasy and keeping the reader grounded in the story. It's one of my 'things'. I'd love to hear your comments on it! Stop by here!

Mens Underwear

2011-09-12T11:14:00.002-04:00

I think about weird things sometimes. I do. Perhaps that's a characteristic of being a writer. Perhaps it's even a pre-requisite. Just like I'm not sure where some of my ideas come from, I also don't know where these thoughts originate. Usually I keep them to myself. It's probably better that way--trust me--but today I've been thinking on something that I'm interested in hearing other's thoughts on. You see, I was at a birthday party over the weekend where a woman was talking about her husband and the fact that he just changed from wearing boxers to briefs. Firstly, I didn't think guys just woke up one morning and did that but the mind boggled because it really got me thinking about underwear--men's underwear. Of course, I think about men's underwear a lot, all in the name of research, you know :). Today the hero and heroine in my current WIP are about to 'do it' for the first time and I have to decide how the hero 'packages' himself. It's got a lot to do with who he is and his background, but I wonder how readers perceive these things.

So...as a reader do YOU have a preference around men's underwear in books? Boxers, briefs, colors? Nothing at all? Anything that turns you off when you're reading about men's underwear?

And while you're pondering that, I thought I'd show you the inspiration picture I've been using for my current WIP. Meet Seth. He's tough and intense. He hasn't known a lot of kindness or softness in his life and he's been trying to ignore who he really is for most of it. Not very successfully, I might add. I've enjoyed writing him so far! Oh, and what do you know? He goes for black briefs!

I'm spreading myself around today!!

2011-08-31T10:23:00.000-04:00

I haven't been out on blogs a lot lately. I've been, you know, trying to write!!! Today, though I'm at three places and they were all really fun to do. So, where can you find me and what am I gabbing about?

1. Book Junkie - this was a really fun interview. I'm talking about my favorite scene to write from POINT BLANK, my favorite book from a reader perspective and the kind of hero I like. That last one probably won't surprise anyone :). There's more spilling as well!

2. Ju Dimello - Ju has been a long time online friend and I was so thrilled to be able to visit with her. I'm talking about how I got into writing and I'M GIVING AWAY A BOOK!!

3. Passionate Reads - I'm talking about endearments in romance. I think a lot about this for my stories. What? 'Snookums' doesn't do it for you? How about 'stud muffin'? Come by and share your thoughts about your favorite!

Hope you stop by!

My First Print Book. Sigh...

2011-08-24T18:48:00.000-04:00

It's funny. I'm an ebook pundit all the way, but when I heard Ellora's Cave were combining my first three ebooks (PICTURE THIS, PAY UP and PLAY ME) with them into a print anthology? Well, I went all giddy and mushy at the knees :). Seriously. There's just something about holding a book, something about that tangible proof that screams I did indeed write a book. Actually, it's a lot more than that one book now, but the physical manifestation of all that work will be so cool to actually see, hold.

When they asked me to come up with a title for it, I drew a blank for awhile. The stories are all quite different, the characters diverse, but there was a common thread. The heroes and heroines of the three stories all found love when it was the last thing they expected, but the thing they all needed the most. It wasn't hard after that and Perfectly Unexpected just seemed so fitting. I haven't seen it physically myself yet, but it's started to hit some of the outlets. It's already up at Barnes & Noble and the other book sellers will follow suite soon enough. I'll probably do some giveaways when I get some copies in my hot hands! And I'm digging the cover. How about you?

Silly Sunday - How to treat a...

2011-08-21T17:01:00.001-04:00

I'm not one for generalizations, but I saw this and couldn't resist :).

HOW TO TREAT A WOMAN:
Wine her. Dine her. Call her. Hold her. Surprise her. Compliment her. Smile at her. Listen to her. Laugh with her. Support her. Cry with her. Romance her. Encourage her. Believe in her. Cuddle with her. Give her jewelry. Buy her flowers. Hold her hand. Write love letters to her. Go to the ends of the earth and back again for her. etc etc etc......

HOW TO TREAT A MAN:
Show up naked, bring chicken wings and beer and DON'T BLOCK THE TV!

Of course, none of MY heroes are like that ;).

Wanna win a book?

2011-08-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

While I've been distracted this week with back to school preparations, I decided it was about time to give away a book. It was, right? Head on over to Passionate Reads for the details (it's really easy I promise). The winner will get a choice of any of my books, including the most recent release, POINT BLANK. Go. Now!

I should be back to my regular schedule next week...

WIP it Wednesday

2011-08-10T15:06:00.000-04:00

I'm finally, finally getting back into my WIP. In the end I decided it's Nash & Lexi up first. This story is almost there and I'm going to be excited to finish it. I really love the heroine I've created in Lexi because she's a little different to the other heroines I've written. Lexi's had a rough upbringing. It's made her tough and somewhat cynical, but in many ways still very vulnerable, particularly to her own feelings when she's exeperiencing things she never has before or never thought she would. And Nash? Well, he's as alpha as they come and as unprepared as Lexi emotionally for what she makes him feel. He didn't think there was a woman out there with that kind of power or that he'd ever allow it. But he does and a whole lot more. Here's a little taste of their second meeting. Sparks anyone? ENJOY!

Lexi swallowed. Okay, that had her imagination running overtime. Her wild, out of control, under-sexed, dirty imagination. Jeez, the guy could move, she had to give him that. He had a way of shifting his body with an economy of movement that might give the impression of laid back, but she knew better. He moved precisely and with purpose. And he was lightening fast.

     “I had it under control.” She muttered.
     “Yeah? Looked like you were taking care of it from where I was.”
     She took in a deep breath. The oaf had taken her unawares grabbing her like that and her heart was still pounding a mile a minute. And she wasn’t talking about the oaf laid out moaning on the floor.
     “Do I look like a damsel in distress? I didn’t need to be rescued, so—”
     “Like I said, that’s not what it looked like. In fact, I’d go so far as saying it looked like you needed some help.”
     “You think this makes up for you being an asshole earlier?”
     He probably expected she’d be all over him in gratitude. Yeah, like that’d ever happen. She didn’t do simpering well.
     He leaned down closer to her and frowned. He pointed to the figure rolling onto his side on the floor. “That guy had you trapped in a booth. You didn’t want to be there. I took care of it. Nothing more, nothing less. A polite thank you could have done it.”
     Polite? Coming from him? That was rich.

It's Out! And so am I.

2011-08-07T09:18:00.001-04:00

Out of the country, that is. Here I am over in Australia as my book releases over at Ellora's Cave with minimal ability to access the internet. Who organized THAT? But really, don't feel too sorry for me. I've been able to catch up with family and friends and experience some 'crisp' weather down under. A far cry from what I've become used to in Florida. I feel like I've been traveling since RWA Nationals in NY and I kind of have. I'll be looking forward to getting back home to Miami to settle down to some serious writing!

POINT BLANK came out on Friday and I've been so excited. I really fell in love with the characters in this book and couldn't wait for their story to be out there. I know :). I say that about every book, but it's true. Hot bad boy makes good. One of my favorite hero types. I also love the cover. Can't go wrong with a great chest and abs, right?

I thought I'd leave you with a little taste in the form of a short excerpt. It comes right after the one posted on the EC site here. ENJOY ;)

"Lanie?"

"Mmmm?"

"Did you forget something?"

"Like?"
"Panties," he groaned. "You’re not wearing any."

"Oh, um I…yeah, I hate them. You got a problem with that?"

"Are you kidding?"

So...I have a book coming out. Soon!

2011-07-26T10:18:00.000-04:00

POINT BLANK releases from Ellora's Cave on August 5. I hadn't really intended to write this book when I did. I was happily writing a different book when these characters started talking to me. I'd always had the seed of an idea in my mind for this, had always been intrigued by the idea of a high school crush that never did burn itself out, but I wasn't going to write it NOW LOL. These characters were just so insistent, I had to stop working on my other project and jump over to this. The result? A quick story about taking chances, hidden desires and not having regrets. I hope everyone will enjoy Rex and Lanie as much as I do.

I don't have the cover yet, but I thought I'd post the excerpt over here. Warning, it contains a hot guy intent on showing the woman he wants to be his just how good he can be. Oh, and it's got some bad words, some very bad words. ENJOY!!

He had her. Alone. Finally.

He stepped in closer to her. Even though the roaring in his head raged at him to crush her against the hard surface of the wall with his body, to imprint himself on her, he was careful not to touch her. Not yet. Even with the heels she was tiny. She barely reached his chin. He’d have to be careful, so very careful of her because he wanted her under him and soon. He was hard, had been since he’d seen her walk into the hall. That hadn’t changed at least. Things might have taken an unexpected turn, an amazing unexpected turn, but it wouldn’t help if he came on too strong, too fast.

She put her hands against his chest and everything in him went still at the contact. His heart slammed against his ribs and he felt as if he’d had the wind knocked out of him. He cupped her face with hands that shook, his fingertips sliding into the edge of her silky hair. His balls tightened in a rush when she opened her mouth a little, his cock a hot brand straining the front of his pants, aching, throbbing, wanting.

“Rex,” she breathed. “About what I said inside.”

He ran a thumb across her full, bottom lip. “Did you change your mind?”

“No.”

Oh yeah. She sounded so sure. Sure was good. He’d never kissed her before. Not even close, but as he leaned in, it felt familiar, she felt familiar and she still smelled incredible.

Although it just about killed him, he waited. “If you plan on stopping me, now’s the time,” he managed.

She moved her head slowly from side to side, all big, wide eyes and he was gone.

He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. Her lips were soft, her mouth sweet. The roaring in his head became an inferno that licked through his body when she opened her mouth and her tongue pushed forward against his, hesitant at first and then more bold when he groaned his encouragement. He was rough, he knew he was, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it as he took control of the kiss. He wanted, needed inside her. He used his tongue to tell her, show her what he wanted to do to her body, in the only way he knew how.

“Rex,” she breathed when he lifted his head and sucked on her lower lip.

“Yeah. Again, just like that.”

“What?”

“My name.” He trailed his mouth along her jaw, down her throat and closed his teeth over the cord of her neck. She shuddered and clutched at him. He closed his eyes against the agony of pleasure that ripped through him as her taste hit him. He hissed when her hips jerked and she made contact with his cock. He wasn’t sure when he’d ever been as hard. He scraped his teeth over her skin again when she arched her neck. “Moan my name again.”

“God, Rex…”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

He grasped her hips in his hands. Jesus, he only had so much control. The small, jerking thrusts were going to drive him insane. Or cause him to do something he might regret later. Just when he thought he could rein it in, the silky fabric of her dress slid freely across her skin under hands that just couldn’t stay still on her curvy body.

Aw fuck.

RWA 2011 Rocked!! Wanna see pictures?

2011-07-23T19:48:00.000-04:00

My biggest accomplishment for this conference? I did it on 2 pairs of shoes. Total!! I'm really not kidding. Seriously though, the high I've been on since RWA 2011 in New York City hasn't lessened a single bit. I look forward to that conference every year and pretty much as soon as one's finished, I'm counting down the days to next year. This conference was a lot of fun for me because it was in NYC. I used to live there for about a year so it was incredible great to be able to be back in the city again. The hotel was located right in Times Square!! I've heard it described as the cross-roads of the world and it's just a vibrant and alive place, any time of the day or night. I loved that I had such an awesome view of it from my hotel room!

During the day it's spectacular, but at night? Incomparable!

I even had a chance to revisit some of the city. Can you guess where this was taken :)??

It's also important for me to volunteer to an organization that does so much for writers. This year, I signed up to help set-up for the huge literacy signing. This event is open to the public and the proceeds go towards literacy. So many authors, so many fabulous books and I got a bit of a workout. Perfect.

I didn't really know what to expect of the opening session this year, but it really was wonderful. 3 very different authors writing very different books and each one was fascinating. I certainly wouldn't have expected Diana Gabaldon for instance to mention blow jobs, but there you have it! It was a highly entertaining and educational panel :).

The keynote addresses are often a high light at these conferences and this year was no exception. Both Madeline Hunter and Sherrilyn Kenyon absolutely rocked, but it was Sherrilyn that delivered perhaps the most moving and inspirational speech I've heard. You really have no idea when you look at a person what they might have gone through, what they've overcome and how they've triumphed. Now I understand how she could have written Acheron. Not everyone could have written that book. She's my new hero and if I ever complain about writing, someone please pick up one of her books and hit me over the head with it!

The workshops have become less useful for me in terms of craft, but I still get a tremendous amount out of them. In fact, the entire conference is one big inspirational experience from start to finish. What could be better than spending several days in the company of writers and like-minded professionals? It really is a very liberating experience.

Some of the highlights in terms of more 'fun' events were the Romance Divas Divafest. There I connected with people I've only ever met online and got to try a butterscotch martini. OMG yum!

I also attended the RWA Passionate Ink party. Yes, she is doing what it looks like she's doing. But we're equal opportunity.

And I can't forget the guys either!! I'd only recently joined this RWA chapter but it was SO much fun. Who knew I'd actually learn something useful about Burlesque while laughing my butt off and getting to see some performances that were just great!

I also went to the Harlequin PJ party. No PJs for me, but I was able to connect face-to-face with a number of folks who hang out on the eharl loops. Oh and of course, I can't forget 'naked, g-string guy'. Our window looked directly into the changing rooms for the Broadway show The Lion King. And he was changing. It was right there and it was spectacular. There was no-where else to look. Honest LOL. OK, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

The conference ended with the Rita and Golden Heart Awards ceremony. This is our chance to get dressed up, relax, hang with friends and recognize some of our best aspiring and established authors. It's always fun and some of the acceptance speeches are amazing. Meg Cabot did a great job as MC. Yep, even more inspiration!

Here's a pic of me and Rula Sinara! We only see each other once a year, but we make it count!

And a self portrait :). I look tired, but it was a good tired!

So...I had an amazing time, caught up with new and old writer friends, got inspired and hopefully fired up enough to carry me through to next year!! Anaheim 2012, here I come!

Just Published - Wendy S. Marcus

2011-07-11T08:02:00.000-04:00

It is with great pleasure I welcome Wendy Marcus to Just Published. Wendy has hung out here on my blog before and I was able to meet her in person at the recent Romance Writers of America (RWA) annual conference in New York. How awesome is that? Wendy published her first book with Harlequin this year and I'm sure she has some wonderful information to share with us about the process so far. First, the details of Wendy's first published book are:

Title: When One Night Isn't Enough
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Medical
Words: 52,000
Publisher: Harlequin
Date Published: June 2011 (UK), July 2011 (France, Australia)

Blurb:
Nurse Ali Forshay has found the perfect man for her. Dependable. Routine. Boring. Exactly what she wants to ensure a quiet, stable and anonymous life. Then his friend, Dr. Jared Padget, shows up and goodbye fairytale ending. The man’s a schmoozer. A womanizer. A whoo-a-woman-into-bed-using-any-means-necessary kind of man just like her father. And Ali wants nothing to do with him. But he’s so tempting. Thank goodness his temporary assignment at Madrin Memorial is over, and he’s heading out of town.

If only he hadn’t shown up at girls’ night out on the eve of his departure. If only he hadn’t taken her up on her drunken one-time offer. If only he hadn’t come back when he’d promised to stay away…

Sounds like your hero is a bit of a devil. I'm partial to that LOL. Okay, so let's get into the nuts and bolts of how it all came about for you!

How would you describe what you write?
I write fast-paced, sexy, contemporary romance. I’ve been told I have a sardonic wit and my characters have a real spark. I write banter and sarcasm, humor and emotion. My heroines are straightforward, and they go after what they want.

So what’s your writing process in a nutshell?
I am a pantser. I don’t recommend it! Sometimes, - usually in the murky middle of my manuscript - I think it would be so nice to have an outline to follow so I would know where I’m headed. But my characters grow and develop as I write. Each one is unique, and while I know where I want the story to go, my characters decide how they’re going to get there.

As a contracted author with Harlequin, I must submit character profiles and a synopsis of each book for approval before I begin a new project. I am NOT a fan of the synopsis. How can I know specific details of a story I have not yet written. But I muddle through. (And usually stray from my synopsis by chapter two!)

Yeah, I hate the sucknopsis as well LOL. What has your submission history looked like? Rejections? Manuscripts written? Number of years ‘seriously writing’, etc?
I started writing seriously in 2007. I sold in October 2010. (During that time I took several months off after my father died.) WHEN ONE NIGHT ISN’T ENOUGH was my second completed manuscript. (But I also had two novellas and three short stories completed, as well as several other manuscripts in various stages of completion.) I can’t say I have dozens of rejections, simply because I was very careful where I submitted. But if memory serves, I was rejected by The Wild Rose Press, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, Kensington, Harlequin Superromance, Silhouette Special Edition, Harlequin Spice Briefs, and Women’s World Magazine.

LOL that's quite a list! You said you were careful. How did you pick your publisher?
I targeted Harlequin because I liked their books and they have a great website with wonderful information for new writers. (And because you don’t need an agent to submit.) I submitted to my favorite lines. But it was purely by chance that I stumbled upon a pitch contest for Harlequin Medical Romance and decided to enter. At the time I didn’t know much about the medical romance line of Harlequin, but never one to pass up an opportunity, I gave the pitch my best shot. And was 1 of 5 winners!

Sigh.. What's your call story?
For me, ‘The Call’ came as an absolute shock. I’d been working on revisions for six long months and had completed the third version of my final draft on a Wednesday. So when my phone rang on Friday, my agent’s voice was the last one I’d expected to hear. She said, “How are you doing?” I said, “Good.” She said, “Real good?” I said, “Just good.” She said, “Well you should feel real, real, real good because Flo (my editor) wants to buy your book.” I don’t recall much after that. I didn’t scream or cry or carry on. All of a sudden the thought of being published, of people I didn’t know reading my book, scared the confidence right out of me! After I hung up with my agent I waited for my editor to call me from London. I don’t remember one word of that conversation. Thankfully she followed up with an e-mail so I knew it wasn’t just a dream.

In my post “call” excitement I made the mistake of getting out of the car when I went to pick up my then 13-year-old daughter from school. As soon as I spotted her I smiled and waved. I could tell she wasn’t happy about me talking to the teacher monitoring dismissal. When she got within hearing distance I yelled, “I sold my book.” (I’d waited years to scream those words. In hindsight, maybe yelling them outside the junior high school wasn’t the best idea.) Rather than a cheer on my behalf followed by a loving embrace, my daughter looked around like who is that crazy woman yelling at? I pity that kid. When she got closer she avoided eye contact and mumbled, “What are you doing out of the car?” as she walked right past me without stopping.

Reality slap. First sale euphoria put to an abrupt end.

LOL. Bet it still felt good! Did you have an agent when you sold? Now?

I hear of this happening all the time. I signed with my agent and finaled in the medical romance pitch contest in the same week. So technically, I did have an agent when I sold, but I’d already caught the interest of the editor I eventually sold to.

What’s it like working with a publisher and editor? Are revisions really as bad as you hear?
I love my editor. She gives me excellent feedback and is very attentive. She doesn’t tell me how to change things, just what isn’t working for her and why. And, while I’m not a fan of revisions, they are necessary to write a good story. Here are two of my favorite quotes:

“Writing is rewriting. A writer must learn to deepen characters, trim writing, and intensify scenes. To fall in love with the first draft to the point where one cannot change it is to greatly enhance the prospects of never publishing.” Richard North Patterson

“Books aren’t written- they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.” Michael Crichton

I've always loved that last one. How did you feel the first time you saw your cover? How much input did you have?
The first of my covers that I saw was the UK 2in1 cover and I LOVED it! I actually love all of the covers for WHEN ONE NIGHT ISN’T ENOUGH. I have them posted on my Facebook author page. (See link below.) I didn’t have any say in any of my covers – although there’s an art fact sheet authors or their editors fill out. Even so, my heroine doesn’t have blond hair, a pierced nose, or an affinity for sucking on heart-shaped lollipops.

What was release day like?
Release day was nothing special partly because my book first came out to Harlequin Medical Romance subscription members about 6 weeks before my official release. Then it went up for sale on the UK Mills and Boon website four weeks before release day. And on the day it went out on store shelves, it happened over in England. And I wasn’t there to enjoy it. (But friends sent me pictures!)

How did you market your book?

I market my book on my blog and I’m currently on a thirty-stop blog tour to promote it. At each stop I give away a book and have mailed them around the world! I also have bookmarks, business cards and pens. I set up two library book signings in my local area and I completed two magazine interviews, one for a Harlequin publication, the other for Love Letter Magazine, a German romance magazine.

Sounds busy! So, what’s next for you?

My second Harlequin Medical Romance, ONCE A GOOD GIRL, is coming out in the UK in December 2011. I’m still waiting for the U.S. and Aus/NZ release dates.

That's awesome. Congratulations! What’s the best advice you can impart to writers aspiring to be published?

Write. Don’t talk about it or complain about it. Just do it. Finish your manuscript, submit it to agents and editors, and while you’re waiting to hear back, start on your next manuscript.

Very sound! Now for some fun! If you were stranded on a desert island but could only take 1 thing from each of the following categories, what would it be & why:

Person Channing Tatum. I think the reason is obvious.

Animal My dog, Buddy. Because he’s always happy to see me, he loves to cuddle, and he’s very protective of me.

Food Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Nuggets with Almonds. Because dark chocolate and almonds both have health benefits. (And if the chocolate melts I can spread it on….. I’m sorry, am I getting too detailed?)

Book I refuse to pick just one. And to tell you the truth, if I’m stranded on a desert island with Channing Tatum, I doubt I’ll want to spend my time reading!!!

Music Anything by Carrie Underwood. Because I love her music!

Personal Item Mouthwash. Because I’d want my breath to smell fresh for Channing.

LOL. Yeah, me too! You can read an excerpt from WHEN ONE NIGHT ISN’T ENOUGH here. The book is currently available for purchase at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Mills & Boon Aus and Harlequin. You can learn more about Wendy at her website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads.

Wendy, thanks so much for being here today. I loved your call story!! Best of luck with your writing and your books. I look forward to keeping in touch with you. Okay, now Wendy has a question for YOU and a giveaway!

So what’s your experience with medical romance? Have you ever heard of them before? Have you ever read one? If so, what did you think? If not, why? And would you be willing to make mine your first? Do you watch medical drama on television? If so, what’s your favorite show? One lucky commenter will win at copy of the 2in1 UK edition of my book which includes a complete novel by Janice Lynn!

Contest! I'm giving away...

2011-07-04T09:21:00.000-04:00

...a $25 Amazon Gift Card! I'm over at Whipped Cream Reviews all week with a different post each day. Stop on over to see how to enter and you might learn something interesting about me with each of the posts ;).

I'm at RWA 2011 this week and...

2011-07-01T07:20:00.000-04:00

Having THE time of my life! What's not to love about hundreds of writers all in one place talking about books, writing and how to be better at it? This is my 'girls weekend' I look forward to every year, but it's also so energizing, inspiring. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook as I post about the conference. I'll be posting here about it next week as well. Off to another day of heaven!

Wanna talk BDSM? Wanna win something?

2011-06-27T00:23:00.000-04:00

I have a special guest here today with an 'interesting' topic :) to keep things moving while I'm making my way to the Annual Romance Writers of America conference in New York. I'll be checking in and hopefully posting some progress reports. Until then, take it away, Randi!

I want to thank Kaily for letting guest blog today. I’m Randi Alexander and I write cowboy erotic romance. My first book, Chase and Seduction was released May 27 from The Wild Rose Press' Cowboy Kink line.

The Cowboy Kink line is - just as it sounds - a line of kinky erotic romances focused on cowboys. Each of the books is written by authors who have their own version of 'kink.' And with cowboys, you know a lot of the kink has to do with ropes and whips.

But I want to talk BDSM today. If you're not familiar with the acronym, it stands for Bondage and Discipline / Dominance and Submission / Sadism and Masochism. It's not specific to sex, but in erotic romance, it is sexual in most stories. The reason I'm sounding like Wikipedia is that I've had a few people in a variety of age ranges ask me what BDSM was.

While I'm not familiar with it personally, except for a little 'slap and tickle' now and then, I did write some light BDSM into Chase and Seduction. The excerpt below is the opening of the scene, which takes place outdoors, making it extra-kinky.

I've read a few erotic BDSM books, where there is meticulous detail paid to the bondage, the discipline, the role playing. While it was titillating, it wasn't what I wanted to see my characters doing. It just didn't fit the character backstories I'd written for them. But Chase does have a kinky side, which he gladly introduces Reno to, but it's not BDSM. The outdoor 'slap and tickle' scene is just a little extra treat I threw into the book, and it's one of my favorite sex scenes.

But many readers love erotic romances with heavy bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, or masochism. They sell very well, and are exciting, seductive, and just as romantic as my light BDSM. And that's where I need your help.

I have a story in mind, and I'm considering including some BDSM. What do you like to read? Do you prefer a story without it, or with a little 'slap and tickle', or do you like a full-throttle BDSM story? I'm excited to hear your comments.

And, as promised, following the story blurb, I've attached the beginning of my BDSM scene.

Country music superstar/actor Chase Tanner has yet to be denied anything–and he’s never wanted anything or anyone more than gorgeous screenplay writer Reno Linden. So when the film they are working on is finally finished, Chase decides to turn up the volume on seducing Reno.

Reno Linden lived a quiet, rural life until she was thrust into the Hollywood scene when her book was adapted to film. Chase Tanner is larger than life, sinfully sexy and hell-bent on getting her into bed. Skittish after a failed wedding engagement, Reno risks the plunge into Chase’s arms, and is surprised that her good girl self can keep up with bad boy Chase.

Though Chase returns to his cowboy roots often, and Reno cherishes the time spent with him on his ranch, the two find their careers pulling them in different directions. Will their attraction survive the glitz and stress of fame?

EXCERPT: Over 18 only please.
“Woman! Don’t make me come after you!”
Reno straightened, showing him her profile. “You could never catch me, old man.”
“Old?” Chase leapt to his feet, and she jerked, dropping the flower.
He stalked toward her. “I’ll show you old.”
She let out a shriek and bolted in the opposite direction, laughing crazily.
He took a hop, then ran hard and fast, and was upon her in seconds. Grabbing her around the waist, he lifted her off her feet. “There’s no getting away from me, Reno.”
She slapped at his hands. “Let me go, you evil letch.”
He released her, only to grab one wrist, bend and grab her opposite knee, and lift her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, her warm skin rubbing against his, kindling a fire in each nerve she touched.
She squealed and laughed. “Chase, you put me down.”
Dominating her this way sent a rush of desire through him, and her weight felt like a feather as he strode back to their blanket. Reaching up, he swatted her behind. “You hush now.”
Her indrawn breath was followed by a soft moan. Then she asked, “And if I don’t hush?”

To celebrate the release of Chase and Seduction, I'm giving away, to one lucky *commenter, an e-copy of my novella Her Cowboy Stud. Just leave a comment today and we'll choose a winner tomorrow. *Commenter must be 18 years of age or older to win.

I'm also giving away a cowgirl hat to one subscriber to my newsletter. For more details, and to sign up for this contest, please go to my website, RandiAlexander.com And while you're there, you can read the first chapter of Chase and Seduction.

Good luck, and thank you!

RandiAlexander.com

WildAndWickedCowboysBlog

TAG. I guess I'm 'it'!

2011-06-23T18:44:00.000-04:00

I was tagged last month by the wonderful Rula Sinara on her A Writer's Rush blog. If you haven't ever checked it (or her) out, do! Rula does the most fabulous author interviews. Now, I know Rula totally cheated when she responded to this tag. Of course, I wouldn't do anything like that. O.O Right? So here goes....

Do you think you're hot?
Depends who's asking... *wink, wink*

Upload a picture or wallpaper you're using at the moment.
OK, I use some VERY hot pictures when I'm writing for inspiration. I'm doing my final edits on a short I've been calling POINT BLANK and below is a pic I've been using for the hero. Now, my heroine really doesn't wear an outfit like that, but I just love how the guy has angled his head completely for the heroine and there's just something about the placement of his hand on the wall that's sexy to me. It reads as consideration to me. He's not crushing her against the wall, he's mindful of his strength and size... Seriously, I could probably go on and on about it. But I won't!

When was the last time you ate chicken meat?
Mmm, I don't actually like chicken. Much. I think hubby made a chicken & nectarine curry thingy over white rice about two weeks ago. I'm not sure he realizes, but I pick the chicken out and it...disappears. Oops.

The song(s) you listened to recently.

No idea. Whatever is on the car while I'm playing kid chauffear. I immediately go into thinking/plotting mode when listening to music.

What were you thinking as you were doing this?

Why? WHY? And...I should probably be writing LOL.

Do you have nicknames? What are they?

Nope. No nicknames. Kinda boring, I know.

Tag eight blogger friends.

OK, a lot of people have probably done this already, but I'll throw out eight and see what works:

Desiree Holt

Cari Quinn

Amber Skyze

Wendi Zwaduk

Lacey Devlin

Lynne Roberts

Jackie Ashenden

Kaye Manro

Who's listed as No. 1? Desiree Holt just published her 100th romance novel. How cool is THAT? SHE'S the hot one.

Say something about No. 5.
Lacey Devlin is on the road to becoming a published author!!

How did you get to know No. 3?
Amber Skyze is an awesome romance author and we share the same publisher.

How about No. 4?
I can't remember how I first found Wendi Zwaduk's blog. I may have been attracted by that name. I finally got to meet Wendi just recently at Lori Foster's Annual reader event in Ohio!
Leave a message for No. 6.
Lynne Roberts you are an aweome writer. I love your work :).

Leave a lovey-dovey message for No. 2.
Roses are red
and sometimes they're not
Cari's stories aren't always in a bed
but they're steaming hot
- Hey I write fiction, not poetry for a reason!

Do No. 7 and No .8 have any similarities?
Not that I know of LOL!

GO!!

RT Book Reviews gives PLAY ME 4 stars!!!

2011-06-22T14:50:00.000-04:00

Wow. Just wow. What a wonderful, awesome surprise today. PLAY ME received a 4 star review from RT Book Reviews!! This is in the August edition, which will be given out at the RWA National conference in NY next week so I'm super psyched. Happy dancing and finding it difficult to concentrate today :). You can read the full review here if you're an online subscriber!!

Ask A Writer

2011-06-18T12:34:00.000-04:00

OK, I haven't done one of these in awhile. I'm opening up the floor!! This is a chance for anyone to ask me anything about anything. Well, almost anything :). It could be about the process and craft of writing, about being published, about the industry in general. It could be about my books or current projects I'm working on. I'm getting ready to head to NY for the annual RWA conference, so it could be something related to conferences or other writer events. Ready? GO!!

WIP it Wednesday

2011-06-15T13:39:00.000-04:00

So, I got distracted from finishing my lastest novella, PIN DOWN by a story that just wouldn't let go. The characters hammered at me until I just had to write it. They were driving me crazy, especially him. You see, Rex had waited long enough and I wanted to see him have his chance with Lanie. Finally. The story is about secret crushes, regrets and finally taking a risk, even if it all might come crashing down. It's only a short story and I'm in the final stages of editing, but thought I would share a snippet today.

Warning, it's R-rated and kinda hot. I think you'll know what he's referring to ;).

His eyelids flickered, his jaw flexed. He grabbed her hand and walked backwards towards the bed, almost as if he couldn’t bear to take his eyes off her.

“Lanie two. Rex zero," he drawled. "I think it’s time we evened things out, don’t you?”

Oh God. Yes.

Rex was her go to fantasy. Always had been. His was the image she called up when she needed to send herself over, the hands she thought about stroking her, tormenting her, the body she dreamed of fucking her, hard and fast when she needed it most. And the arms she imagined holding her at night when she just needed warm and strong.

And she was going to get everything, all of that and more, right now.

I should probably get out more often...

2011-06-14T09:58:00.000-04:00

I went to my local Romance Writers of America (RWA) chapter meeting last Saturday. It had been awhile and a heck of a lot longer than I'd realized since I'd last attended a Florida Romance Writers get together. During the school year, it's difficult for me to make it to these gatherings, but it helps to know these wonderful folks are out there, willing and ready to support one of their own. At least for me that's huge!

It was a great agenda. There was a panel with multi-published authors and we could ask anytthing. Well, almost anything :). In attendance were Allison Chase (Penguin/Signet), Bonnie Vanak (Harlequin), Cindi Thomason (Kensington/Harlequin), Marcia King-Gamble (Kensington/St. Martin/Harlequin) and Linda Conrad (Harlequin) - left to right in the picture below.

OMG, can you imagine the collective experience and knowledge contained on this panel? They took questions from the group and answered with frankness, honesty and with a goal to help others navigate the mine field that is the publishing industry today. It was totally awesome ladies!!

I also had a wonderful surprise. I was given a gorgeous art glass art in recognition of my first sale last year. President, Kristin joked that at the last meeting I attended I announced my sale and then they didn't see me for another 9 months! I was writing, okay LOL?? Besides, it was probably more like 12. Isn't it just absolutely beautiful? Of course, if I'd known there was going to be presents involved, I might have been at a meeting WAY sooner!

It's just another one of those things that feeds the soul of the writer and gets the inspiration roaring and singing!

So...the Lori Foster Annual Reader & Author Get Together 2011!

2011-06-08T22:34:00.002-04:00

Better late than never I always say! Yep. I went. It was a last minute decision and boy am I glad I decided to go! It was great to get to meet online friends in person...you know, just to make sure they were really real.

And of course, I had an opportunity to meet THE Lori Foster (swoon, swoon, major fan girl moment). I've read Lori Foster for as long as I can remember. I just love her heroes--the strength with a core of honor and integrity will get me every time. Sigh...

I was also fortunate to meet Nalini Singh who is another of my favorite all time writers (more serious swooning). Her psy changeling series is an auto-buy for me and I ended up with an autographed copy of KISS OF SNOW. It will have a place on my forever keeper shelf, that's for sure. What an amazing story teller she is and just a sweetheart as well! Of course, she's from my part of the world so I wouldn't have expected anything less :).

I also had a chance to meet fellow Romance Divas and KJ Reed and Sasha Devlin, fellow Ellora's Cave authors. That was awesome because we share the same editor. But we didn't gossip, Grace. Seriously!

I think one of the most important things writers get out of writer get togethers is inspiration and a renewed enthusiasm for writing. At least, that's what I want (hope) to get out of them. There's just something so special about connecting with other writers, people who really do understand what it is that drives us, because let's face it, not many other people do.

Want to know about my writing process?

2011-06-07T14:32:00.000-04:00

I'm over with Micole Black today on her blog.. She asked me some really great questions about my writing process, heroes and advice for aspiring authors. Come by and say hi!

Keeping it Clean - Missy Jane

2011-06-01T21:52:00.000-04:00

I have a special guest with me today, fellow Ellora's Cave author, Missy Jane! Missy and I share an editor, so she's extra special :). Missy has a tag line which I just love - Make reading a guilty pleasure... I just adore that because for me, reading has always been a special treat I reward myself with, something to savor, something to look forward to. Missy has a great post today, one that I can totally and completely relate to so I'm going to hand it on over to Missy...

Keeping it Clean

I became an erotic romance author by accident. Four years ago, all of the writing I did was just for me. I’d get ideas in my head and have no choice but to write them out of my brain. Writing kept me sane and happy. Once I made the decision to query a publisher I did my homework and decided to start with Samhain, but knew from their backlist that I needed to add romance to my book. Okay, not just romance but S-E-X. I was wary and giggled through the entire first scene as I wrote it. I’m sure I was probably blushing too. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching. Once I got through the first one it became a lot easier and now I have to work not to put sex in my books. Much to the annoyance of my daughters.

My kids want to read my writing but they can’t…at least not for a few years. They’ve been asking me to please write something they can read. I’ve tried, really I have, but it’s just not working. Every time I start a nice, clean manuscript the characters decide to do things their way and either kill someone violently, start cussing up a storm or have sex. Maybe even all three, but not usually at the same time. Perhaps I need to write the ending first where everyone lives happily ever after. I should probably start with a married couple, or make sure all of my characters are under the age of ten. The book will probably only be about twelve pages long but there won’t be room for sex or violence.

If you were writing a book for your children to read what would you put in it or keep out? Leave a comment and you could win a prize pack. Plus all commenters are entered to win the Birthday Blog Tour grand prize! Please include your email address. For all the details check out my website. Good luck!

Missy, thanks so much for stopping by!! My own kids are still small but I've thought about writing YA for them when they get older. It would probably be something urban fantasyish, perhaps with a little romance thrown in. My son has already warned me that there can't be any kissing!

Things I've learned by the pool in Vegas this week!

2011-05-25T17:07:00.000-04:00

Yes, if you missed it, I'm in Vegas this week. I'm trying to relax as much as possible and that means I'm making like I'm comatose by the pool as much as possible LOL. Thought I'd share some thoughts and observations (deep and meaningful of course) I've had this week:

If you're lobster red and still baking yourself, you're most likely British.
There's no bod good enough for speedos. Sorry. There's just not!
It's 90 degrees out but that still doesn't stop people dressing in head to toe black. I bet they're from NY.
I don't care. You might be on vacation and this is Vegas but I still think 9:30 am is too early for Tequila shots. Seriously.
If your butt is more than half the width of a pool lounger, chances are it's too big for a Brazilian cut bikini bottom. Just sayin.
Yes, there is some ink on guys that just looks weird and wrong.
I'm still not convinced bikinis and stilettos go together.
Everyone has cellulite. Well, except for that b*tch 3 chairs down from me today. Why can't she sit on the other side of the pool?

The Ramblings of a Writer's Mind: Grapes! - with Wendy S. Marcus

2011-05-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

Please welcome Wendy S. Marcus to my blog today. Wendy begins her journey as a published Harlequin author this month. What an exciting time!

Hi Kaily! Thank you so much for having me to your blog today! I know I should be talking about my book or my journey to publication. But, odd as it may seem, I’ve chosen grapes as my topic for this blog post. Read on to see how this ties into writing.

You're welcome but...grapes? Grapes!? Okay, this has got to be good!

A few weeks ago I volunteered to prepare and serve lunch at a local shelter. My food donation was 25 servings of fruit. I chose to bring grapes, which are not as easy as bananas or oranges because grapes need to be washed, cut into portions, and placed in single serving baggies.

During the washing process, after dumping a large package of grapes into the colander, I found a poker chip. Yes. I said poker chip. Now most people would have tossed that chip into the trash and got back to work. Not me. I’m a writer and my mind tends to wander.

I examined the chip. Dark blue with white lettering. Along the outer rim were pictures of hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs. In the center the number 25 next to a C with two short lines running horizontally through the middle.

Where had this chip come from and why was it in my bag of grapes? I wondered. My writer’s mind went to work. Maybe there was something hidden in the bag of grapes and the chip was to help someone locate it. Maybe a drug dealer. I sniffed my grapes, like I had any idea what the heck I was sniffing for, but certainly if there were drugs I’d smell them. Right? I inspected the grapes for white powder. Hey, I watch television.

Nothing.

So I carefully washed the grapes, palpating each for anything abnormal.

Nothing.

So I ate a few. I can’t very well serve them to strangers if I wasn’t willing to eat them myself.

Nothing.

Okay. The chip was probably not drug related. So I continued on with my task. But couldn’t get past the question: How did that poker chip wind up in my grapes?

What if it’d been in the pocket of some poor migrant worker, his last thing of value in the world? What if he’d meant to cash it in before work so he could feed his seven children? And now I had it and his children were going hungry. Because of me. I felt horrible.

I called my daughter, the movie fanatic, to share my concerns. She suggested maybe the poker chip was a tracking device. For what? Drugs! I actually imagined two burly men with Uzis tracking a red flashing dot that led to my kitchen. “But I didn’t find any drugs,” I said to my daughter actually starting to feel a bit nervous. “Oh no,” I cried out. “Maybe the poker chip is the drugs.” After all it was very light weight.

I picked up the poker chip like it would explode if mishandled. I ran my fingers over the edges. Solid. I tried to bend it. Solid. I threw it on the floor. Solid. All while my daughter laughed hysterically on the phone.

I am an absolute lunatic. Which, it turns out, is the right frame of mind for a writer. I don’t take things at face value. I question. I wonder why and what if. I imagine the possibilities.

I see a happy couple at the library and I wonder why they’re so happy. What were they doing fifteen minutes ago to make them all smiley and touchy-feely? And what if the librarian is the girl’s mother and she knows what they’ve been doing and she’s fuming? Does she make a scene? Maybe lay into her daughter or fling a thick autobiography at the boys head? Or does she maintain the strict librarian code of conduct…while she places a call to her husband…who grabs his shotgun and jumps into the family Ford?

It is exhausting being me.

But entertaining.

So, the reason I’m actually here is to tell you about my debut Harlequin Medical Romance, When One Night Isn’t Enough now available to any UK visitors on the Mills and Boon website here. Kaily has graciously invited me back for another chat on July 11th, my release day in the U.S. and Australia. I hope you’ll all stop by for another visit!

As part of my debut release celebration I’m running two contests with Amazon gift cards as prizes. Please check out my website for details on how to enter. And while you’re there check out the excerpts for When One Night Isn’t Enough and its sequel Once a Good Girl.

Now for my questions: Have you ever read a Harlequin Medical Romance? If yes, what did you think? If no, why not? And are you willing to make mine your first? Also, do you have a writer’s rambling mind? Give me some examples. Or tell me this, what do you think is the story behind my poker chip? One lucky commenter will win a copy of the 2in1 UK version of my book which includes a second complete novel by Author Janice Lynn.

LOL. Wendy, what a great story. Yeah, it's a chore being a writer sometimes! Thank you so much for stopping by. Much congratulations and best wishes for your book and I look forward to delving further into your journey to publication as part of Just Published in July!

WIP it Wednesday

2011-05-18T14:41:00.000-04:00

I'm feverishly trying to get this book done. Feverishly! As usually happens, I'm so far into Lexi's head and totally ga-ga in love with Nash, that it's hard to let go. Soon... Until then, ENJOY the below snippet :):

     “Lexi, about last night…”
     She looked around at the milling people and felt the heat in her face, not to mention the wash of heat that hit her square in the stomach and arced down right between her legs to flesh still tender, swollen. He’d been utterly focused on her, demanding, relentless and God help her she’d loved every frenzied minute of it.
     “It’s okay,” she choked.
     “I got…kind of rough.” He looked away from her. “I—”
     “It’s okay and I—yeah, anyway…” She coughed. “I liked it. A lot.”

What promo stuff do you like??

2011-05-16T14:14:00.000-04:00

Does anybody see May? I've searched everywhere. Did anybody see where it went? I can't believe half the month is already gone which means I need to get my act together and figure out what promo items I'll be offering at RWA Nationals in NY at the end of June. Honestly, this is a stressful decision. I want something to showcase myself well, but for it to be an item that's useful and wanted. Needless to say, I want to make sure my investment in this is a wise one. I don't think it translates to sales, but it is a way for an author to get their name in front of potential readers and industry professionals. It needs to be interesting and eye catching, something useful and something that's not too expensive.

So...what things do you like to pick up at events/conferences? What catches your eye? What do you wish authors would offer more of? What things do you actually keep and use? What things do you hate? Yeah...I need some HELP!

Blogger has been having some issues lately so I haven't posted over the last week. I THINK it's all better so we'll be getting back to the regularly scheduled programming now!

Is that...? squints No, it couldn't be...

2011-05-08T13:26:00.000-04:00

H A P P Y M O T H E R ' S D A Y !

If you're a Mom I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful day and get adequately spoiled. If not, well I know you've got a Mom, so have a great day regardless of how you decide to spend it. I saw this and had to share LOL. Look closely :). Is that...? No, it couldn't be. Could it? ENJOY!!

Best Book of the Week?

2011-05-07T13:20:00.000-04:00

WOW. PLAY ME is up for best book of the week over at Whipped Cream Reviews!! There are some fantastic books up there. I know because I've read some of them. Voting is now open so, you know...if you're so inclined :).

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/index.htm

BDSM? Fetish? REALLY?

2011-05-06T09:31:00.000-04:00

I got a wonderful review the other day from Whipped Cream for PLAY ME. Anemone says...

With white hot chemistry between Lily and Gabe, the sex scenes were explosive.

and

With yet another sinfully hot book, this author has become an instant buy for me. I highly recommend it.

The review was great and I loved the comments, but...the way it was classified made me raise my eyebrows a little. BDSM? Fetish? Voyeurism? Toys? Okay, the toys part was obvious and I can see the voyeurism angle (although it was all fantasy) but I had no idea the book had BSDM or fetish elements or that anyone would perceive it this way. Who knew LOL? Thank you, Anemone for a wonderful review!

You can check out the full review here.

I was really shocked...

2011-05-04T11:06:00.000-04:00

Last week I was shocked when, on a loop for published and aspiring authors, I noticed that there were some that didn't understand the difference between erotica and erotic romance. Not only that, thoughts were expressed that clearly showed many thought they were the same thing. OMG, NO!! I know there's not really an industry standard when it comes to a definition of these areas but I wanted to clarify at least here (and in my opinion) what those differences are. Because I think it's important. The below comes from the Passionate Ink website actually and I think provide very concise differentiators:

Erotica: stories written about the sexual journey of the characters and how this impacts them as individuals. Emotion and character growth are important facets of a true erotic story. However, erotica is NOT designed to show the development of a romantic relationship, although it’s not prohibited if the author chooses to explore romance. Happily Ever Afters are NOT an intrinsic part of erotica, though they can be included.

Erotic Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn’t be removed without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT to be an erotic romance.

I really hate all the labels, but writing and books have to be categorized so that readers know what to expect. It's hard enough dealing with the preconceived ideas and notions of the 'general population' about what romance, erotic romance and erotica is I guess that I was just so blown away that there were authors out there within the genre who hadn't grasped these nuances.

So...I write romance first and foremost. There's no question of that. I write about the relationship between two people (M/F) who either have a HEA or a HFN. And yeah, it's hot and steamy, but it's an important element of that developing relationship. Could I write erotica? Sure I could, but I don't really want to. Could I write menages? Maybe, although there would have to be circumstances that would warrant that situation in my mind so that it would still be a 'romance'. Could I write M/M? I don't think so. I don't really 'feel' these relationships and I don't think I would do justice to them.

I've read some really great erotica, but for me as a writer I'm too interested in the dynamics and complexities and in exploring the M/F interaction. I love to get into the depths of the alpha male psyche, a guy who's finally found the one woman to crack that tough exterior and do things he wouldn't have ever imagined doing. That's what I absolutely love to write. It's romance or erotic romance, but not erotica!

Okay, I was kind of on my soapbox a tiny bit LOL. I'll climb down now. Carry on!!

WIP it Wednesday

2011-04-27T09:37:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd do something a little different this time. Since I'm working on two WIPs at once, I thought I'd share a snippet from each of them LOL.

The first is from my book, tentatively titled PIN DOWN and it's coming along really well. I'm hoping to wrap it up really soon.

     A guy like Nash? He was probably used to women falling all over him, telling him how good looking he was, talking about how hard his muscles were, how hot he was and she’d be damned if she’d fall into that same groove. Even if she was thinking all of those things and more.

The second is from my 'secret project'. I started writing a paranormal story! This is a first for me, but I don't think it's that far removed from what I've already written. The hero is still mega alpha, the heroine has a problem only he can fix and it's still set in contemporary times. I think my voice is really suited to that. It is different from a paranormal perspective in that there's not a vampire or werewolf in sight! One of my favorite parts so far:

     He took a deep breath. He went as long as he could between women, until the needs of his body overrode his overpowering need for solitude, for privacy. But he’d needed this time, perhaps more than any of the rest. He’d held himself back with her, just like he always did during sex, always conscious of his size and his incredible strength, but it had been a near thing. He’d left it too damn long this time.
     "I mean it." She licked her lips. "It's been forever since a man has found me attractive, desirable, since a man has just...wanted me, really wanted me and I..."
     Seth clenched his jaw when her voice trailed off. That was all fine and good except...he wasn't exactly a man.

ENJOY!

So I Should Probably Give Away a Book...

2011-04-24T23:27:00.000-04:00

So I will. Give away a book, that is :). From now through Tuesday midnight (EDT) anyone who makes a comment on my blog gets an entry. Winner can choose any one of my books.

So tell me...why do you read? What's the primary reason you want/need/have to lose yourself in a book?

How I Write - Point of View

2011-04-21T10:41:00.000-04:00

This is the first post for my very new feature called, How I Write. I thought it would be useful to post once a month or so something about my writing process, focus on something craft related or simply provide a tip or trick I may use while I write. Who knows? Readers may find the insight into the creative process interesting and aspiring authors out there may find something useful to take to their own writing. At least that's my hope.

For this first post I thought I would talk about Point of View (POV) because it is so very important to a book. One of the key things a writer needs to do is to quickly engage the reader and ensure they relate to the characters. It's what keeps the pages turning because a reader needs to care about the characters, especially in a romance. The reader needs to relate to and sympathize with the heroine. A reader needs to fall in love (a little or a lot LOL) with the hero. A reader needs to be right there, hoping and wishing and yearning for the couple to ultimately get together. Writing in a particular character's POV (and doing it well) is a key way to achieve that connection with the reader. I recently wrote 2 articles about writing in deep POV for Savvy Authors. They contain some very basic things with examples that you can do to achieve more depth, not just for your characters, but for your book as a whole. Rather than provide all that information here again, use the links below to check out the articles for the detail if you like.

Article 1
Article 2

There are a few things I do during my creative process to assist with executing POV correctly, particularly those key times when you need to change POV from one character to another. Now, I'm not one for rules :). I like to do what seems right, what feels right when I create. I don't think much about 'writing rules' along the way. That comes later when I self-edit or my editor goes *tsk* *tsk*. Generally speaking though, you don't want to change POV within a scene. You need time for the reader to ground themselves with that particular character and what they're experiencing before jumping into someone elses head. I say "generally speaking" because I regularly read successful NY Times bestselling authors that blow this guideline out of the water LOL. When I first started writing, this was probably one of my biggest challenges to overcome. My problem was that in every scene I knew what ALL the characters were thinking and tried to stuff it all in there. Of course there are pitfalls of this head-hopping and it ain't pretty for the reader.

One thing I used to do to ensure I was balancing out the POV time between characters and make sure I wasn't changing POV too often was to use color coding. I would literally go through my document and change the font color to pink for the heroine's POV, blue for the hero's POV. Yeah, I know not very original :). The exercise is very enlightening though and suddenly what you're doing with your character's POV is so much easier to see and work with. It really helped me with the process to go back and smooth over these switches.

I hope you find something valuable in these posts. If you do, please leave a comment so I'll know and continue!!

Inspiration. It's a funny thing.

2011-04-18T16:42:00.000-04:00

Writers get asked all the time where their ideas come from. At least I do. I've blogged about this a couple of times here and elsewhere, but I thought it would be fun to break down a book and share some specifics of just how ideas and some of the elements end up in books. Let's take my latest, PLAY ME.

The name Gabe - this has been in my 'names I like and would love to use in a book some day' file for a long time. It's one of those names that get mentally tagged when I hear or see it and know it would make a great character. Of course it helps that I think it's just plain masculine and hot for a guy!

Setting - PLAY ME is set in LA. It's not described in detail because it's not really critical to the story, but the beach area and Lily's house is one I used to walk, ride or drive past regularly. I loved living in LA. Of course, I could get to/from work and do all the activities I enjoyed by staying in my neighborhood and off the freeways. Also, living in LA you're constantly aware of the dangers of the city and those 'do not go under any circumstances' areas. It was always a fear of mine that I would take a wrong turn and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Again, I could have described everything about the setting in minute detail in the book, but it's not important to Gabe and Lily's story. It is important for me though when I write to be able to clearly picture the setting so this is why I often set my books in places I've lived. Luckily, I've lived in many wonderful, interesting and varied places and traveled to many, many more!

Ironing scene - I hate ironing. Actually I don't iron. I'd do anything to avoid it. I'll even not buy an item of clothing if it really does need to be ironed LOL. I have this wrinkle releaser product I use and try and fold everything directly from the dryer. That's how I 'iron'. I get a kick out of a guy ironing. Sorry :). Just me having some fun while I was writing.

Panties Gabe wants Lily to wear - Shhh, don't tell anyone but I have these pair myself LOL.

The 'declaration' scene - I had written this scene, but it just didn't 'feel' right to me. I tweaked it. It still didn't sing. I polished it some more. It was missing something. I was browsing a Victoria's Secret catalogue and BAM I had the element I was looking for for that all important scene. For those who don't know, Victoria's Secret is a large lingerie chain very widespread here in the US. I can't really give any more detail than that about what it was that I saw and used because it's kind of a spoiler, but I had my ending when I finished browsing that catalogue!!

And for the rest? I'm not really sure. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my imagination, I guess. I just hope where ever or however it comes, it doesn't stop anytime soon :)!

Just Published - Sasha Devlin

2011-04-10T21:51:00.000-04:00

I'm super excited today to introduce you to Sasha Devlin. I've known Sasha (or of her) for awhile. I'm a lurker and I got to know her some from a loop I lurk on. A lot LOL. I couldn't wait to ask her to be a part of Just Published. Sasha is a brand new published author!! In fact, I've heard her talk about still having that 'new author smell'. Big, huge, super congrats, Sasha!! It's amazing how small a world it really is because Sasha and I now share an editor at EC. How cool is that? So...let's talk about your first published book:

Title: In the Light of Day
Genre: M/M Romantic Suspense
Words: <30K
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Date Published: 3/24/2011
Blurb:
Jaren’s birthday weekend isn’t going as planned. Instead of being in the arms of the man he fell hard for, he’s alone at his lake cabin. With a bottle of wine. When Cooper shows up on his doorstep, all appears right with the world. Until Jaren realizes the real reason Cooper is there.

Cooper didn’t mean to fall for someone he was working a case with. And certainly not a man. Cooper always thought he was straight, but posing as gay lovers to infiltrate a pornography ring had felt all too real. Now he has feelings for the sexy younger man. Strong ones. Just as he’s prepared to drive to the cabin and give Jaren a birthday in bed he’ll never forget, Cooper gets word the criminal they put away has escaped—and is coming after Jaren.

Jaren finally has the man of his dreams where he wants him, but for all the wrong reasons. He can trust Cooper to guard his body, but what about his heart?

Certainly a different kind of story, but it sounds fascinating! Sasha, how would you describe what you write?
This is harder than most would think. I'm all over the place in terms of genre (romance, mystery, YA) though these days I'm firmly focused on erotic romance. I have a tendency to write ladies with smart mouths and tender hearts and men I could fall in love with (even the ones who mainly love other men).

So what’s your writing process in a nutshell?
I'm some sort of plotter - pantser hybrid. A plontser? Pantter? I have to have an idea of where the story is going, or I completely flounder. I can write an obscene amount of words about nothing at all. :) I call these my sign posts, and they are typically scenes. But I don't know how these scenes connect, and I often find that I need even more scenes to fill out the entire story.

What has your submission history looked like? Rejections? Manuscripts written? Number of years ‘seriously writing’, etc.?
This is either going to make people love me, or want to throw shoes at me. I've been seriously writing for about two years. Light is actually the first story I've finished that wasn't tied to school work and school has been a WHILE for me. I'm an excellent starter, but I need to work on my finishing skills.

I entered Tawny Taylor's Some Like It Hot writing contest (my first writing contest) and I won. The prize was a full request, and at the end of all that I sold. So with the first story I've finished in more than 10 years, I entered my first writing contest and earned my first contract.

Ah, a fairy tale story LOL. Did you deliberately target Ellora's Cave?
About five years ago, I was in Borders looking for a romance novel. I found these an Ellora's Cave Cavemen Anthology and took a chance. This was my first time ever reading an erotic romance novella and at the end of the story (The Changling by Callista Arman) I was wound up. It was sexy and edgy and unlike anything I read and I remember thinking that maybe, ONE day I'd like to write for EC. All the stories I had been plot-ansting seemed too explicit for traditional NY publishing, but here was proof that they could find a home.

I always love these. What’s your ‘call’ story?
I'm a supreme dork. I tend to get good news and then sit on it. It took me nearly ten minutes to open the email when it arrived and I reread the acceptance email six times before I believed it -- I gave plenty of time for the retraction to come in. I told one person because I didn't want to go through the agony of waiting alone, and then told my crit group almost a week later, all while still waiting for the axe to fall. I didn't officially announce to anyone else (or Twitter) until after the contract had been finalized. My sis and I did dinner to celebrate and I've started a tradition of nail polishes. I got a special color after sending in the full, another for selling and still another when the book came out. It's a small treat and something I can carry with me in my ever day life that reminds me of Light.

Did you have an agent when you sold? Now?
I do not have an agent, and as of right now, I'm not really targeting traditional NY Publishing.

What’s it like working with a publisher and editor? Are revisions really as bad as you hear :)?
This was both more painful and less painful than I imagined. I was super nervous knowing someone who doesn't already KNOW and love me was reading the work. What if she hated it? What if she wanted me to change big important parts that I thought were integral? What if she thought it needed a complete overhaul?! In short I panicked.

My editor is a peach. The edits 100% made the book better and I asked questions (buckets of them) to make sure I got it right. I did have to do some rewriting and I really sweated over the few new scenes I had to insert. It's one thing when you're writing to please yourself and another when you're trying to make it appeal to a wider audience.

Yeah, our editor really is awesome, huh? How did you feel the first time you saw your cover? Of course I know this, but how much input did you have?
I never thought of my cover until I was staring at the Cover Art form trying to think of what to say. I knew what it shouldn't have (rockets, farm land, clowns), but was at a total lost of what it should have. Covers are a huge part of whether or not people take a chance on your book, and for it to be out of my hands made me nervous. But it's perfect. I saw it while I was at work (oh Blackberry I can't quit you!) and squealed.

What was release day like for you?
I was dreading it. Someone warned me that I might have nightmares a few nights before and I did. I dreamed that they discovered it was a mistake and canceled the release. I must have cruised the EC site at least twenty times! I had to go into my day job, and it was a riot seeing people tweet me and cue the book on Good Reads.

How did you end up marketing your book?
I'm still learning my way with this. I decided against a huge blogging blitz because quite frankly I get exhausted when an author wants me to visit her day after day after day after a release. At this point, I'm doing a few guest blogs and interviews, which I've spread out over a few weeks. I also joined a m/m group on Good Reads and I know that my interactions there have gotten my book in front of people as well. I'll also be participating in the Summer Reading Trail with an excerpt to get people interested in Light. I'm planning to attend a couple of conferences this year and will be doing swag. I'm very interest in the Romance Trade Cards that have popped up.

Sounds very common sense! What’s the most surprising thing you've learned during the publishing process?
How quick and painless it could be. I know my story is not the typical, and I was ready for it take years to get a yes and even longer after that to go from start to finish on edits. I struggled with edits -- mainly because I wanted everything to be JUUUUST right, but in the end I enjoyed the process.

So, what do you think were the factors that got you published?
*insert panicked face here* I've read a fair amount of M/M, but I've never read a romantic suspense, so that right there makes Light different. I also think I've packed a lot story into a pretty quick read. And LUCK! I'm a firm believer in luck. You can have the right story, but if it's not the right place and time, it won't matter.

Yeah, sometimes it's all about the timing. What’s your 5 year plan look like?
*impersonates a deer in headlights* I like to tell people I'm so new at this, I still squeak. I don't have a five year plan as of right now, but it is on my list of things to do this year. This year's goal however, is to get five other books subbed during the calendar year. We'll see if I can do that in between bouts of panic.

LOL. You'll be fine! So, what’s next for you?
I'm currently working at another M/M story, this time a straight contemp. I wrote Light as an experiment and this book will be as well. I'm writing a story without any beasties, dead bodies or rockets?! Yeah, color me surprised as well.

What’s the best advice you can impart to writers aspiring to be published?
Take the chance. You never know when you'll have the right story at the right time. And just keep trying. It only takes one yes.

Well said!! Now for some fun! If you were stranded on a desert island but could only take 1 thing from each of the following categories, what would it be & why:
Person My sister. We live ten minutes from each other, see each other a couple times a week, and still manage several hours on the phone a week. Besides, she gets my crazy sense of humor.
Animal I'd get a Welsh Corgi puppy. Hopefully with all that sand, my allergies won't act up.
Food Hmmmm. If we're talking type then Chinese. If we're talking kind, then pizza because you can have it a billion ways and never get tired of it.
Book *whimpers* This has to be the cruelest question here! If just one, Jasper Fforde's The Fourth Bear (Urban Fantasy Mystery and it's hilarious). I'd probably try to see if I could Gillian's Island a Kindle though. I'm not going to lie.
Music Maroon 5's Songs About Jane Cd. Love every single track! But, again, see the Gillian Note above, only sub iPod for Kindle
Personal Item I'm going to cheat and bring my Blackberry, thus allowing me access to email, ebooks and twitter

OK, but that sucker isn't going to last long LOL! Sasha, thanks so much for being here today. Loved your insight and loved hearing more about how you came to be published. Wishing you many, many more sales and awesome books! If anyone would like to learn more about Sasha, this is where she hangs out on the web:
FB: http://www.facebook.com/sashadevlin
Twitter: @SashaDevlin
Website: http://www.sashadevlin.com/
Blog: http://sashadevlin.com/blog/

Me & Desiree Holt. Oh, and there's prizes!!! Good ones!

2011-04-09T09:06:00.000-04:00

Okay, so there's not really a Desiree Holt and me. Not quite like that anyway LOL. I know she's read my books and I was fortunate enough to meet her at last year's RomantiCon. Fangirl moment, anyone? What an awesome lady! She was so nice and incredibly fun and she's filled with just so much energy. I guess she has to be because you know what? Desiree just published her 100th book. 100! One. Zero. Zero. Downstroke released from Ellora's Cave April 8.

BLURB

It’s been twenty years since security specialist Charley Roper and country star Dallas Creed had their bitter parting. Now a killer has brought them together again, but neither is ready for a reunion—despite signs that their explosive chemistry hasn’t waned with time. She can’t forget the feel of his hands on her body. He can’t forget the hot touch of her mouth. When they finally tumble into bed, the sex is just as good as they remember, hot enough to singe the sheets. But is it enough?

Thrown together during an exhausting, frenzied concert tour, with a killer nipping at their heels, Dallas and Charley find themselves on a hot, suspenseful, erotic roller coaster ride. Can he convince her to trust her heart to him one more time, to reach out for a richer, deeper, more mature love?

More importantly—can Charley keep Dallas alive long enough for either of them to enjoy a second chance?

You can view more information and buy it here. I haven't picked this one up yet but I recently read another of Desiree's books, Eight Second Ride. Whew. OMG. Hot. It featured a hot guy, rockin off the charts sex, but underlying all that was an emotional thread which gave depth and richness to the story. It's clear to see why Desiree is an icon in this industry and why she is so highly regarded.

100 books. It boggles the mind. Really. What an incredible accomplishment and what a tremendous contribution she's made to the romance industry. So, I'm going to join her celebration in recognition of her awesomeness and help her give away books and a Netbook!!

As part of the celebration, Desiree is giving away a prize every day of one copy of one of her novels of the reader's choice from her backlist. Post here to enter for today!! Names will be drawn from those who post comments. At the end of the month, one lucky person will win a grand prize of a refurbished Netbook with digital DVD drive. After you post here, go to Desiree's web site at http://www.desireeholt.com/ and enter to win the grand prize of the netbook at the end of the month. You'll also find other blogs participating in this event for more chances to win!

PLAY ME received a reviewers 'TOP PICK"!

2011-04-08T09:52:00.000-04:00

I've gotten great reviews at Night Owl Reviews (NOR) before, but PLAY ME received a TOP PICK from them! It's not just because of the 'score' or even the Top Pick designation, I loved what Chris had to say:

"Guilty Pleasure Alert! This pushed a lot of my happy buttons as a romance goes. Damaged hero, innocent yet seductive heroine. Danger, deception and desperation. Yum."

You can see the complete review here.

I get such a kick out of reading comments about my books, gaining an understanding of how a reader interpreted things, what they took away from it, how the characters or the story made them feel. I could get addicted to that feeling. So...how should I celebrate? I vote for finishing the next one!

WIP it Wednesday

2011-04-06T09:50:00.000-04:00

It's time for another snippet from my WIP. I'm loving this book so far. I'm writing a heroine named Lexi who comes off as tough and prickly. She's also got some great combacks and I'm enjoying her giving my hero (Nash) a hard time. Of course, he's going to give her a hard time too. Eventually ;). Here's this weeks selection:

     He might keep calling it a scratch but it was an angry looking cut that had to be three inches long and it was still seeping blood.
     “Ah, you should probably put something on that.”
     He jerked his head towards the sink. “Have at it then.”
     “Me?”
     She’d never been anyone’s nurse and was pretty sure she didn’t exactly have a gentle touch to be any good at it. Or the bedside manner to go along with it. She picked up the small medical kit he’d motioned to and opened it. She smiled. If he wanted to be her guinea pig, who was she to argue?

ENJOY!

Ask a Writer

2011-04-03T19:29:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but I thought I'd periodically open the floor up for questions. Any questions. About anything. Well...not anything ;) but questions about writing, books, publishing, being an author, epublishers, the craft of writing...that sort of thing. Is there something you've wanted to know about the industry, how a book gets published, responsibilities, what a writer's life is like? If so, ask away. I'd love to hear what you wonder about and I'll do my best to answer completely and honestly. I know there are a lot of lurkers out there (yeah, YOU!), but don't be shy. You can even leave a question on my FB page or send me something on Twitter, even email me. I'll keep it anonymous if you'd like.

GO!

Know what I did last night?

2011-03-29T15:22:00.001-04:00

I posted a little while ago that one of my books was selected by a small, local book club and that they had invited me to attend their meeting. Well, it was last night and OMG I had the best fun! I think there's something about the prospect of discussing a hot and steamy read that has inhibitions and tongues loosening LOL. At least for these ladies, unless they're like that all the time :). Of course, it could have also been the alcohol!

They had a theme for the food, which was aphrodisiacs. How appropriate. I can't tell you how elaborate and awesome the food was. I was simply blown away. Not the mention...cucumber martinis and...champagne. Champagne! I think I seriously need to get out more LOL.

Firstly, I wasn't sure which particular book had been selected for them all to read because most of them had read more than one! Yay!! One woman was happy to let me know she'd read PAY UP twice, just to make sure she didn't miss anything the first time :)!! Yay her!

I do think some might have thought that just because I write hot that made me an expert on sex and that I must watch porn. So not true LOL. I got some great comments and questions though and I thought I'd share a sample of my favorites:

"You don't look anything like I expected you to look."
"Is your husband good looking?"
"Are your books your own fantasies?"
"How do you do your research?"
"How do you start writing?"
"How do you come up with that stuff?"
"Oh, there's a plot in the book?"
"I was surprised that there was a happy ending in a book like this."
"Do you think your books will be turned into movies one day?"

I had to stay on my toes to respond to and answer those and others. Overall, it was great to have the opportunity to talk to readers directly and in person, especially readers who might not have read in this genre otherwise. I hope I managed to change perceptions and squash myths, at least in a small way about erotic romance. Ladies, thank you so much for such a fun and interesting evening and the food was simply DIVINE!!

And the rest of the winners are...

2011-03-28T12:38:00.000-04:00

I ended up with a LOT of entries. More than I thought I'd have and tracking became...challenging :). Thanks to everyone who commented, followed and friended me! I really appreciate it. Now, drum roll please....

The 4 winners of fabulous Jimmy Thomas calendars are...

                                            Celia Kyle
                                            Regina Carlysle
                                            JoAnne Kenrick
                                            Desere Steenberg

And the autographed copy goes to JoAnne!!

Congratulations, ladies. Again, I'll try and track you down, but send me your mailing details at kaily@kailyhart.com and I'll get your calenders out to you as soon as I can!!! Thanks for playing!

** If anyone is interested in how I arrived at the winners, I dumped all the posts, friend and follow lists into a spreadsheet and used EXCEL's RANDBETWEEN function to return 4 numbers randomly corresponding to the row number of the entrant. I used the same method to determine who would win the remaining autographed calendar. Yeah, I know. I can't help it. There's a post circulating around somewhere about me and spreadsheets. What can I say? I have a computer background and I LOVE spreadsheets :).

The first winner is...

2011-03-28T11:55:00.000-04:00

Wow, very few people managed to guess that my favorite month on the calendar was... AUGUST. It was really hard narrowing the pictures down to only 1. Jimmy Thomas is seriously hot and the pictures are gorgeous. I tend to like the ones in the earlier months on the calendar, but August stood out for me. There's a sense of real passion and abandon in the shot, not just from the woman, but also from Jimmy. As a couple they're totally focused on each other which is really hot and there's a sense of action. You can imagine what's going to happen next, right? AND of course..I just love a guy's back. I think a man's back is one of the sexiest parts of his body, especially when it's hard and muscled. You can almost feel the ripple of muscle under his skin in the photo. Whew! Is it getting hot in here??

Anyway, the winner of the first autographed Jimmy Thomas calendar is...

Terra Pennington

Congratulations, Terra! I'll try and track you down, but send me an email at kaily@kailyhart.com with your postal address and I'll get your calendar out to you as soon as I can.

The remaining winners to be announced shortly!

Last Day for my Giveway!

2011-03-27T10:30:00.000-04:00

If you haven't heard about my giveaway (and how could that have happened?), today is the last day! It's easy to enter and you can enter multiple times to maximize your chances. All the details are here but if you comment on any of my posts on my blog or on Facebook , that's an entry. If you friend (Facebook) or follow (Twitter) me (if you don't already), that's an entry. If you sign-up to follow my blog (if you don't already), that's an entry. Giveaway closes at midnight Eastern tonight! I have 5 Jimmy Thomas calendars I can't wait to give away, 2 signed by Jimmy himself. For one of the autographed ones, just guess which month has my favorite picture of Jimmy and you could win that one! Technically, it's possible therefore to win 2 calendars. I'll announce the winners sometime tomorrow March 28!! Good luck!!

Oh, and PLAY ME just went live on Amazon. Love that!!

WIP It Wednesday & New Blog Features!

2011-03-23T12:33:00.000-04:00

That time again. Already!? It's good actually, because it means I have to make sure I have something interesting and 'worthy' to share :). Before I post the snippet though, I wanted to draw attention to my left side bar on the blog. I updated it to include a summary of all of my regular blog features. These have been going around and around in my head for awhile. I'd like to be sure the content of the blog has substance and remains interesting and hope this does that. I have another idea I'm going to kick around for a bit longer, but if anyone has any feedback or input, let me know! My regular features will be:

WIP it Wednesday
Each (or every other) Wednesday I'll share a snippet from my current WIP. Unedited, of course :), so don't shoot me!

Just Published
Monthly, I'll drill down with newly published authors about how they did it, what worked, what didn't, and get them to share their pearls of wisdom.

How I Write
New! Each month I'll do a post about writing-sometimes craft, sometimes promotion, hopefully useful!

Ask a Writer
New! Randomly, I'll do a post and invite you guys to ask me anything. Well, not anything, but anything to do with writing and publishing and being an author. It's pretty broad. Not sure how this will work because there are a lot of lurkers (yeah, you!), but I'd love to see your questions!

And now for the snippet. I just worked on this page before doing this blog entry. Enjoy!

     He kept looking at her, his gaze steady on hers.
     “Is this some kind of test, Lexi?”
     “Test?” she snorted. “We’re not—I mean, we’re—”
     Jeez, exactly what were they?
     She took a deep breath. “I don’t have any hold on you. I don’t expect any. You can do whatever you like.” She shrugged. “Go for it if you want.”
     “Yeah?” He glanced back toward the two women. They noticed his interest and motioned him over. Oh God. She should have kept her mouth shut. Why couldn't she ever keep her mouth shut?
     “Know what I want? Right now?”
     Her stomach knotted. He stepped to her and his voice lowered.
     “I want to...

Comments about PLAY ME

2011-03-22T10:12:00.001-04:00

I still feel kinda weird doing this, but it's part of being a writer and I know I need to get with the program in that respect. Right? I haven't received any 'official' reviews yet from review sites (it's still early days) but I've received a lot of great comments directly and from readers online about PLAY ME. Really, these mean a lot more to me than those official ones, although I'll take them too! I know it takes a lot for a reader to reach out to an author or post something on line and I really, really appreciate it. So...I thought I'd share my favs:

Thanks again.... keep writing.... I love your voice.... I love your men!!!! - Rita

SEXY
HOT
SWEET
and my FAVORITE kind of Hero---a little grouchy, a little edgy, and a whole lot of marshmallow when it comes to that RIGHT woman. - Taryn

This is my third book for Kaily and I can't wait for more! They keep getting better and better! - Jennifer

Interesting people, funny dialog, and hot sex. I thought it was great. - Leslie

There was plenty of well written dialogue as well as perfectly delivered lines throughout to keep the reader entertained. There’s also plenty of hot, steamy sex. - Dreama

Thanks so much, you guys!!! It's very touching and makes me want to write just that much faster :).

WIP it Wednesday

2011-03-16T17:59:00.000-04:00

This is my second edition of WIP it Wednesday and I thought it only fair. Last week I introduced Nash from PIN DOWN (tentative title) so now it's Alexis' turn :). She didn't start out fiesty and snarky. Really. She just developed that way, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. Nash doesn't really know what to do with her. Well, he does...but perhaps that's for another day :). ENJOY!

     “So, you got a name?” he asked.
     She lifted her chin ever so slightly. “Alexis. My friends call me Lexi. You? You can call me Alexis.”
     Ouch.
     He laughed. Again with the beat skipping thing. What was up with that?

Giveaway Time!

2011-03-10T12:18:00.001-05:00

To celebrate the release of PLAY ME tomorrow (March 11), I wanna have some fun! I have 5 calendars to give away. Yes, 5!!! The calendars feature the fabulous Jimmy Thomas. Jimmy has been on over 1,000 romance novel covers (and counting) and epitomizes the romantic hero, regardless of genre. His pictures are also smokin' hot and trust me...not a hardship to look at. Who wouldn't want a new image of Jimmy to ~~drool over~~ appreciate every month? Just don't blame me if you end up leaving one month showing way past it's end date :). On top of all that, Jimmy seems like a really nice guy and he loves animals. BTW, 2 of the calendars I'm giving away are autographed by Jimmy himself!

So...here's how the contest will work for 4 of the calendars:

It starts now and runs through March 24 at midnight (eastern).
I'm extending the end date to Sunday, March 27 at midnight because I'll be on a school field trip to the Miami-Dade fair all day Friday. I'll post winners on Monday March 28!! More chances to win, right?
Comment here on my blog or on Facebook on any of my posts during the giveaway period to earn 1 entry.
If you follow my blog (or already do), you get an additional entry.
If you friend me on Facebook (or we're already friends), you get an additional entry.
All the entries will be put into a jar (or a barrel, depending) and 4 will be drawn randomly. One of these will get the autographed calendar. Obviously, the more entries you have, the more chance you have of winning.
I'll announce the winners on my blog on March 25 (once I figure out how to track all this LOL).
I'll ship anywhere :). This is not just limited to US/Canadian residents!

So, what about calendar number 5?? I'm doing something special/different for the final autographed calendar. To be in the drawing for this one, simply check out Jimmy's calendar site here and let me know which of the calendar months (January through January) has my favorite picture of Jimmy. Easy, right? If there is more than 1 correct answer, I'll draw a winner at random from the correct entries. Same time frames as the giveaway above and winner will be announced on March 25 as well.

Clear as mud, right? Thought so :). Have fun!

Introducing a new blog feature - WIP it Wednesday!

2011-03-09T13:02:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking lately how I could do more with my blog. The Just Published features prove to be VERY popular. Even though there's not a great deal of comments, there are a LOT of lurkers that stop by, which is thrilling.  I'm not sure, but this might be more interesting and informative to other writers and/or those aspiring to be published. I have a few ideas still to work through, but so far I've come up with WIP it Wednesday. Every (or every other) Wednesday I'll post something from my current WIP. It won't be large, but I'll pick from the page I'm working on or from a section that's particularly struck me as I've been writing. Already, I sometimes post a line I liked or a small snippet on Facebook or Twitter, but doing it here will give me more room to work with and I can leave in all my punctuation! I'm hoping this will serve a couple of purposes. It will (hopefully) provide visitors with a glimpse of what and how I write (keep in mind these will be unedited snippets!). Plus, it will make sure I actually HAVE something to share on these days :).

I'm loving the book I'm working on right now. It's tentatively titled PIN DOWN, but that could change. Possibly at any moment. It has a hot (of course), 'militaryish' guy named Nash who thinks the last thing he needs is to have ties to any one place. Or any one woman. Until he meets Lexi. She turns him on. Okay, that doesn't surprise him, but she also makes him laugh and that almost knocks him on his ass. Look out Nash because pretty soon a certain town with a cute, sharp-tongued blond looks awfully appealing!

Hey, I think I might have just written a partial blurb! Thanks, guys!! Anyway, here's the snippet:

     “You got a nick name then?” Lexi tried again.
     “Yeah, you don’t want to know.”
     “So, what should I call you? ‘Oh, baby, oh yeah, baby’ might get a bit old after awhile. Besides, I like to be more original than that.”
     He laughed. He couldn’t help it. He couldn’t say when he’d met someone who could make him laugh as much as she could. Not that he thought she was trying to. She was just being herself.
     “Nash. You can call me Nash.”

Just Published - Elaine Golden

2011-03-06T23:51:00.000-05:00

It's with great pleasure I welcome Elaine Golden to Just Published this week. Elaine just had her first book published with Harlequin in February and will follow-up with two more books that are already scheduled this year! What a success story! So lets delve into the details of Elaine's first book and her journey to publication.

Title: An Imprudent Lady
Genre: Historical Romance, Regency era
Words: 15K
Publisher: Harlequin Historical Undone
Date Published: February, 2011

Elaine, how would you describe what you write?
It’s all about the romance for me. Historical romance is my mainstay –any era, really. I love them all. I’ve written Regency, Westerns and Medieval manuscripts. I’ve also recently begun to dabble with a Steampunk series (playing with Victorian mores in a fantasy setting). I’m most comfortable writing in the third-person and strive to write in a style that’s evocative of the era, while still making it engaging for the modern reader.

Sounds quite unique. What’s your writing process in a nutshell?
Oh, I’m a plotter. Must know where my story begins and ends. I’ve tried, even during NaNoWriMo, to pants and I fail miserably. Every time. When I plot, I generally break the story down into three main sections, creatively titled ‘beginning’, ‘middle’ and ‘end’. Heh. I then try to sketch in the story’s major turning points (generally 3 of them) which are major shifts in the plot –events where the characters cannot return to where they were at the beginning of the story.

Now, with that said, I don’t feel like I need to plot every single scene in minute detail. I think writing would become a bit dull if I carried the plotting that far. Once I know where I’m going, I allow the story to take little detours along the way so I can discover things about the characters or greater detail about plot points. I haven’t had much success with character interviews, or profiles.

Sounds like a great way to develop a really solid outline. What has your submission history looked like? Rejections? Manuscripts written? Number of years ‘seriously writing’, etc?
I’ve been writing off and on for about 20 years, but only began to seriously write in about 2006. I’d discovered the wonderful world of the online writing community and suddenly realized I wasn’t alone in this endeavor. I’ve trunked a couple of novels and have three other fulls in progress at the moment. My first actual submission was in May 2009 and I sent it to 3 publishers –1 rejected it, 1 requested the full (then went out of business) and 1 bought it.

So the first manuscript you ever submitted, you sold? I hate you! Only kidding :). How did you pick your publisher?
In this instance, I did specifically write the story for Harlequin. I’d read about their new Undone! short story line and I thought I’d try my hand at a short. I’d been struggling with plot development and getting bogged down in the full-length storyline, so thought this would be a great way to hone my writing style. And, wow, did it ever! I learned more about plot, story and developing my writing voice by working on such a concentrated storyline. The other publishers I sent the manuscript to were epubs only, and I selected them because they were all short story friendly. But they also appealed to me because I’m a huge proponent of the epublishing movement –I buy only ebooks for myself and have anticipated the rapid acceleration of ebook adoption at large.

Yay for ebooks and I agree. Writing short is a great way to boil down your writing. Every word has to count! What’s your ‘call’ story?
For such a momentous event, in retrospect I have to say it all went down very quietly. It was a Friday morning, I was in my office and my cell phone rang. That phone rarely rings during the week, so when the number on the display was unknown I had no idea who was calling. But a very nice British voice greeted me –I recognized the name right away because I’d just gone 2 rounds of revision communications with her. I quietly walked across the room and closed my office door because my brain had begun to go blank and I wasn’t entirely certain if I was going to start screaming or crying. In the end I think I just babbled. She guided me though the conversation and asked me if they could please buy my story?

I think I forgot to say yes. Sorta like when my husband proposed, if you can imagine. In both cases, they had to ask me, was that a ‘yes’? Of course!

Since no one at the office knows that I write (and I prefer to keep it that way for the time being), my celebration was limited to a quick call and babble session with my husband, and then I had to idle down and deal with mundane day-job stuff for the next 8 hours. When I got home I had to re-read the emailed offer confirmation to be certain it wasn’t all a dream. Then my husband and I celebrated over a pitcher of margaritas!

I love stories like that and margaritas is a great way to celebrate! Did you have an agent when you sold? Now?
I don’t have an agent, but I plan to look for one this summer now that I’m focusing more time and attention to longer manuscripts.

So, what’s it like working with a publisher and editor? Are revisions really as bad as you hear?
It’s fascinating to see more of the publishing process. Working with a publisher is a bit of hurry-up-and-wait activity –there are periods of lots of activity and deadlines, then periods of silence. So it’s a definite practice in patience!

I love working with an editor; I’ve found it very give and take. Basically, she sends over notes about what’s working or not in the manuscript, but always leaves it up to me how to digest the feedback and what changes to make as a result. The feedback is always insightful and informative and serves to make the stories stronger. If I decide not to incorporate something I generally include an explanation on why and, so far, we’ve been able to easily strike an accord.

Sounds like a great relationship. How did you feel the first time you saw your cover? How much input did you have?
Well, before it goes to the art department, I filled out an art fact sheet for them. It consists of character descriptions (hair color, eye color, other physical traits), story themes (lost love, first love, redemption, revenge, etc) and even key scenes to describe. All of this is taken into consideration by the art department when they select the artwork for the cover.

It was so exciting to receive that cover, to see how they would represent the story to a buyer. I was pleased that they chose to convey the study scene (a turning point in the story) and Charlotte’s rose gown. I’ve got a poster-sized version on my wall over the computer now, as inspiration!

What was release day like for you?
Well, without physical copies of books to sign (since it’s an ebook only line), we ended up inviting some friends to hang out at a neighborhood pub and countdown till midnight, when it would be available for download. I had postcards printed with my cover so there’d be something physical to hold and talk about. Even the waitresses joined in the fun!

That sounds like such fun. How did you market it?
Ah, well, being an ebook it’s all about online marketing. I try to use Twitter and guest blogging for meeting new audiences and offering giveaways. I’m also blogging on my site, Goodreads and the Amazon author’s page. But mostly it’s about participating in online communities, being a member of the writing and reading community and generally talking with people that have had the best success. I did try a brief promotion with Google AdWords (I received a $100 promo gift card from my internet provider, so decided ‘why not?’). Other than a number of hits from certain key word searches, I can’t say if there were definitively any sales tied to it, though.

That's great information. I always like to hear what avenues authors think work (or not). What’s the most surprising thing you learned during the publishing process?
I’ve been most surprised by how very small the industry is.

What do you think were the factors that got you published?
Aside from having a good story to tell? I think it was showing that I could take and adapt to criticism. That original manuscript went through 2 separate revisions before an offer was made, and in retrospect I think that was as much about getting the manuscript into tip-top shape as much it was about seeing how I processed and executed the revisions.

Sadly, I think some people never resubmit. I think others refuse to revise. I think being open minded and willing to adapt is an invaluable trait if you’re serious about being published.

Great advice. I do think the revision process is sort of a trial run in how an author will work with a particular editor. So you're going to be a multi-published author. What’s your 5 year plan look like?
Short term my focus is on finding the right agent and selling a full length manuscript. My 5-year plan is more about building my name and backlist to the point that I’m able to write full time.

Awesome! What’s next for you?
That first sale turned into a series with Harlequin, called the Fortney Follies. So, March 1^st is the release of book two, A DISGRACEFUL MISS, and book three has been accepted for a tentative June release, though it’s currently untitled.

Congrats!! What’s the best advice you can impart to writers aspiring to be published?
Never forget this is a business. Treat it like one. That means networking, being open minded and flexible, and behaving like a professional. Remember my comment about how small an industry this is? Never forget it.

Now for some fun! If you were stranded on a desert but could only take 1 thing from each of the following categories, what would it be & why:
Person My hubby. He’s my best friend and lover. Don’t know if I could make it without him, and I could totally enjoy being stranded with him!

Animal I’m not a big pet person, so this would be a totally practical animal. Like a chicken for eggs. Or something. Just so long as I don’t have to keep up with it. Or feel guilty because I didn’t play with it enough. I spend too much time in my head, and I’m lucky to keep up with the husband and myself.

Food Chocolate. Life’s just not the same without a little chocolate in it!

Book The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett. I’d really want to have the whole series, but could make do with just the first book. Dunnett was such a rich, complex storyteller that every time I read it, I discover something I missed on earlier reads. It’s a favorite of both of ours.

Music Anything by the Counting Crows. There’s just something about Adam Duritz’ voice that I love to listen to.

Personal Item A guitar. I don’t play but my husband does, and I sure do love to listen to him play.

Ah, practical and romantic! A great combination. Gorgeous picture, by the way!

Elaine, thank you so much for being here today. Best wishes to you for your upcoming releases and achieving those goals. You really are an inspiration! If anyone would like to get in touch with Elaine or learn more about her or her books, you can visit her here:

http://elainegolden.com/

Finally...it's here

2011-02-28T12:27:00.000-05:00

Well, it will be March 11! PLAY ME went up on the Coming Soon page at Ellora's Cave today. I still can't really describe the feelings I experience when I see it out there in the world. Something I've created, labored over and yeah agonized for, out there for everyone to see and read. I'm really excited for this book. Gabe is my kind of hero--harsh and tortured--and whether he knows it or not, just waiting for the right woman to come along.

BLURB
Lily Hamilton had her quiet, predictable life all mapped out, including a hot-shot attorney for a fiancé. That is until she catches him screwing around and takes off in his prized Mercedes, for once not giving a damn where she’s headed. How clichéd is that?

Gabriel Jackson is raw and disillusioned. Driving a tow truck is a far cry from the dangerous career he turned his back on, but when he finds the classy blonde in a dangerous part of LA, he’s immediately back in the role of protector.

Lily is hot and sweet and so out of his league it’s not funny, yet Gabe can’t deny the sizzling heat between them. He thinks he wants hard, fast and rough—until he gets his hands on her. He knows he should stay the hell away, but Lily makes him feel, really feel for the first time in two years. Is she just slumming or can she see beyond the harsh, broken façade to the man beneath? A man who dreams of making her his?

EXCERPT
Copyright © KAILY HART, 2011
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Warning: the below excerpt isn't exactly PG. Enjoy!!

Of the many kisses she’d experienced, of the few lovers she’d had, of the year and a half she’d been with Ian—no, wasted on Ian—Lily had never experienced anything like the sensations she’d gotten during those minutes of his mouth on hers, his body pressing into her. Or had it been only seconds?

She licked lips that felt swollen. He tasted like coffee, or maybe that came from her. She thought she’d been ready that second time, but when he’d taken control… She was still tingling from it. She took a deep breath and looked up.

God, his eyes.

They were dark, like everything else about him, but it was a deep-blue rimmed with a border of navy or black that made his gaze that much more intense. It was a look that saw everything in an instant and she shivered under his piercing stare, not from fear or even from the cold, but from something she didn’t have a name for.

Where she’d gotten the courage to kiss him like that, she’d never know. She’d never done anything remotely like that before. She should have been scared, cautious at the very least, yet somehow knew she’d be safe with him. He’d done something extraordinary for her, knowingly risked himself for her, and it was weird, but she felt connected to him on some elemental level she couldn’t even begin to understand. She was thankful, of course she was, but gratitude didn’t have her heart racing, her stomach flip-flopping, her body singing. Did it? Jeez, who was she kidding? She ached in places that usually only came alive after long and intense stimulation of the solo kind.

All she knew was that she hadn’t been able to just let him walk away. Not yet.

“C-Come inside,” she whispered.

Yeah, and she so totally sucked at stuff like this.

When his gaze slid down to the juncture of her thighs, heat bloomed in her cheeks, low in her belly, between her legs.

“With me. I meant come inside with me. Although…” She took a deep breath and rushed on before she chickened out. “You can come inside me too. Well, we’ll have to use protection, of course, but—”

“Lily.” Gabe closed his eyes briefly and groaned.

“It’s okay. You know, if you don’t want to, I mean.”

“God…”

His gaze slid over her in a hot caress resting on nipples she could feel hard and erect against the thin silk of her dress. Her stomach clenched. It wasn’t exactly a “no”.

She swallowed. She should probably give him fair warning. “You know.” She licked her lips. “I-I’ve never done anything like this.”

“Adrenaline,” he dismissed. “It’s just the adrenaline.”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. I just…” She looked at him, tried to ignore the tremor in her limbs and went for it. “I’ve never wanted like this before. Never so quickly, but never, ever,” she glanced away, “like this.”

God, she probably sounded as if she had a screw loose or something. What happened to all that girl talk that assured a woman could get laid whenever she wanted, at the snap of her fingers? All of her friends had had one-night stands. Okay, they might not have been proud of them exactly, but they’d all expounded on the benefits of no-strings sex. After having the evidence that the relationship route hadn’t exactly been working for her, didn’t she deserve some uncomplicated pleasure herself? She was entitled, wasn’t she?

His jaw flexed and his gaze bore into hers. He took a couple deep breaths. He seemed to be weighing his options. Jeez, she didn’t want to have to twist his arm.

“I—”

“Why the fuck not?” he finally muttered.

The bottom dropped right out of Lily’s stomach. Okay, not exactly the resounding response she’d been hoping for, but she could run with it, couldn’t she? If she could get her nerves under control and didn’t make a complete fool of herself, of course.

She frowned when he opened the passenger door and leaned in. His gaze was direct on hers when he straightened, a small square packet held unapologetically in his hand as if he wanted to be certain she saw it.

“Are you sure?” he rasped.

Her heart thundered, her throat was dry and the damn trembling was back. Especially when it registered he was holding more than one.

God, she hadn’t been exaggerating when she said she’d never done anything like this before and she couldn’t say why she was now exactly. Sex had always been a natural progression in the relationships she’d had. After a reasonable time, after getting to know someone, after feeling a connection that came with spending time together, but this… This was a driving, aching need, a want so powerful it drove her to seize the moment, to not let him just walk away and to hell with the fact she didn’t know a thing about him. She just wanted to learn every inch of him, run her hands over the hard body she’d felt pressed against her, feel him on her, in her. She was drawn to him, her body attuned to his, every nerve ending tingling alive for him. And after knowing she’d wasted a year and a half of her life on a one-sided relationship, a farce, well, she was done with that.

She’d never gone for the bad-boy type before either. There was definitely something savage and untamed about him, something held tightly under control. He’d come tearing in, literally guns blazing and saved her from a fate that just might have been worse than death. It was hot and arousing. He was hot with this rough and rugged appearance, there was no doubt, but there was something almost vulnerable about him as well, something that reached out to her, as if he needed someone to keep him safe too. It was ridiculous. She knew it was. He was probably the last person who’d be in need of protection. He clearly didn’t need it, wouldn’t want it and probably wouldn’t appreciate it.

Mouth dry, she nodded.

I'm in love...

2011-02-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

...WITH MY NEW COVER for PLAY ME! I was speechless when I saw it. It fits the story perfectly and it's "me" if that makes any sense. It not only represents the characters and the feel of the story so well, it appeals to me from a style perspective as well. Gosh, it's so perfect I still get chills (of the good kind) when I look at it. Hope to have a release day soon and for it to be soon :). In the meantime, I'll just keep staring at it...or I could work on my WIP. Sigh...

The WIP is well underway

2011-02-21T09:32:00.000-05:00

I had a little bit of a slow start to this WIP. I had to spend some time getting to know the characters first. For me, if I know who they are, the story flows. I've made great progress on the story this weekend which is unusual. I typically write more "new" words during the week and tweak over the weekend. Yes, I work every day on something writing related :). I also don't have a title for this one yet. Another difference. By now I've usually settled on a title and I'm tying the theme into the book. This one, I'm kinda still waiting for it to hit me. I have to say, I like it when I know there's a surprise in store for me. So...I thought I'd share a couple of quick snippets from the WIP. It's a bit of a mess at the moment, but that's how I write. I call it writing 'all over the book'. I have something sitting in every chapter, every scene. Description, dialogue, scene outlines, it's all in there. Jumbled. I kind of do a mind dump of everything I know is going to happen, roughly in the sequence it'll occur and then when I'm ready, I go back and actually 'write' it. Some scenes are more 'written' currently than others, but I thought I'd pull out a couple of favorite parts of mine so far. I'm really enjoying the sparks that fly between Nash and Lexi! ENJOY!

     “What’s your name?”
     She lifted her chin ever so slightly. “Alexis. My friends call me Lexi. You? You can call me Alexis.”
     Ouch.

      “You tattooed a guy’s name on your ass,” Nash breathed.
      “No. I paid someone else to do it. And it’s not on my ass. It’s on my hip.”
     “Just have to wonder about your judgment.”
      “Yeah? Well my judgment’s been known to suck. I’m here with you aren’t I?”

I'm thinking about posting a snippet from whatever page I'm working on from my WIP each Wednesday on the blog. Good idea? Not?

Fequently Asked Questions. Huh?

2011-02-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

So...I'm in the process of looking into re-designing my web-site. That translates roughly to...I'm sorta, kinda waffling about it. It needs a new look. It needs new information. Actually, it needs an overhaul, but I'm thinking very carefully about what information to put out there. I want it to be interesting and engaging. I want it to be useful and informative. I want it to look pretty. I want it to make people buy my books! Only kidding on that last part LOL. Really, I'd just like it to be a reflection of me and what I write, so perhaps people could get more of a sense of where I'm coming from. I've seen a lot of author sites include a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section and I've been thinking about incorporating one of these in the new content. So, I'm fishing for information today :). Authors, what information do you include in your FAQ section if you have one? Readers, what information do you like to see about authors on these thingys that would be of interest to you?

Valentine's Day Contest!

2011-02-12T22:24:00.000-05:00

We're having a fabulous contest over on my group blog, Passionate Reads! Comment on any post anywhere on the blog through mid-morning on Valentine's Day and win a bunch of ebooks, including a copy of PAY UP. The more you comment, the more chances you have of winning! Go here to get all the details!

WOOT!

2011-02-09T21:26:00.001-05:00

My editor loves my book, my editor loves my book *sing-song voice*. Heard from my editor today and she loved PLAY ME! I'm in the process of taking care of the administrative side of things on this and will hopefully be able to share details of a release date soon. I poured a lot of emotion into this book and it took awhile to wrestle it to the ground. Gabe is the damaged, tortured hero and I have a soft spot for that type! I hope everyone likes it. It'll be great to get another book out!! More details to follow soon....

Are you serious??

2011-02-08T09:51:00.000-05:00

So, one of my books was selected as a local book club read! Wow. Before you get too excited, it probably sounds a lot more impressive than it actually is. It's a very small, informal group, but I still can't help be excited. They've invited me to come meet with them after they've all read the book to 'discuss it'. This part fills me with dread because I figure there can only be a few outcomes here:

Everyone loves the book, my writing and is in total awe of my skill. OK, maybe not that last part, but the first two :).
They're all speechless, shocked, embarrassed because you know...I write hot. They've been warned, but you never know. Maybe I'll be the one to die of embarrassment if they want to deconstruct those scenes.
They're not shocked at all, but wonder who the heck picked this trash for them to read? Actually, this one would be a nice challenge to practice justifying why romance is viable fiction and how erotic romance is NOT porn. Of course, afterwards, if I ever see any of them again in public, I'll have to run and hide.

The date is still being locked down, but it'll be some time in March. Should be fun. Or perhaps not. I'll be sure to let you know!

Ah...January? Where are you?

2011-02-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

Did you blink and miss it? I must have. January just flew by for me. Perhaps it was because I took a spur of the moment vacation and the hope that I could settle into a routine again after the madness of the holidays just flew out the window. Anyway, it's a brand new month, I have no trips planned (that I know of yet :)) and I'm ready to sink my teeth into something new. I turned in my latest book yesterday. Sigh and yay!! It required me to lock myself in my writing cave to wrap it up. The waiting and nail biting begins, but what to work on now? There are so many characters vying for my attention. I could pick up Cole's story from PAY UP. When I started to write that book, I hadn't intended to leave an opening for another story, but Cole just became so real. And I have just the woman for him :)! I could go back to an idea I had in January. It did distract me from my book at the time and it's nicely laid out. It's got a hot military guy :). I could browse my ever bulging "ideas" file. There's some great stuff in there. OR I could run with a shiny, new, exciting idea that struck me this morning. Decisions, decisions... So much to write, so little time!

What I've Learned Skiing this Week

2011-01-19T15:13:00.001-05:00

So, I've been in Colorado this week skiing with the kids. They'd never even seen snow before, so it's been very much a special time for them. Surprisingly, they've all taken to skiing so I feel future ski vacations could be in our future *groan*. Unfortunately, there are other things I would prefer to do, but I'm a firm believer in being able to learn something from any situation, so I'd like to share what I've learned this week:

Everything somehow looks "magical" covered in snow. Even the dumpster out back of the hotel looks picturesque with a dusting of snow. Of course, I don't have to drive in it or shovel it!
Snow really is cold. Now I know why I live in Miami.
You really can never have too much chapstick.
Skiing is indeed like riding a bike. The problem is, I was never that great at riding a bike :).
You will fall. It's just a matter of time. Especially if you strap on a pair of skis.
No matter what you do, your hair is going to look like crap anyway, so don't bother.
I might be in reasonable shape, but man, I'm really unfit. I hear a new year's resolution coming on...
Skiing is like eating crab. It's a lot of effort for not very much pay off, particularly if you don't absolutely love skiing...er crab.
If you look good, you ski better. OK, not really, but you might feel better about having to do it LOL.
Skiing is something you have to have a passion for. I'm actually a pretty solid intermediate skier. I even went down a black run yesterday. Of course, hubby tricked me into it. I'm just not driven to it, not like every other person here seems to be.
I'd really rather do something else. Like write!

Naming Characters

2011-01-13T22:08:00.000-05:00

It always fascinates me to hear how other writers work, how they write and what happens during their creative process. One of the things I always wonder about as I start a book is where the character's names came from. I think it's because I know where mine do--from everywhere and anything and sometimes from nowhere and nothing! That makes sense, right? LOL. I'm one of those people who'll scan the credits of a TV show or movie for interesting names, look at the contributors list in magazines, gosh I've even been known to scan my kid's school contact list! I have a number of baby name books as well. One of them has 20,000 names in it! It's the one I used to name my kids, so it's kinda special.

Sometimes I'll just hear a name somewhere or I'll see it and I'll file it away for later. That's what happened with Rio from PAY UP. I've had that name identified as one I would use eventually for a long time. I just needed the right guy. I actually have a document that lists possible names and I usually look at it before I start a book UNLESS the story has started with a character so strongly, that the name is already there. It happens like that sometimes. The character will just pop into my head, fully formed and already with a name. I'm sure it's something from my subconscious, but it sometimes feels like it's come from thin air. Occasionally, I'll be developing a character profile and I'll get to a certain point and the character suddenly 'becomes' someone. It happened that way with Jillian from PICTURE THIS. Jillian is not a name that would have normally gotten my attention, but when I created her profile, she just 'seemed' like a Jillian. To me, anyway.

I try to pick names that are easy to pronounce and wouldn't have a reader wondering how they sound, but past experiences also come into play. There are particular names that have connotations and associations that would make it impossible for me to use them for heroes or heroines. It might be people I know, family, those from the past that have too many echoes (positive or negative) that would prevent me from relating to them enough to write them. I also have this issue sometimes as a reader. If there's a book with a name that I too readily associate with a living person, it can make it challenging to really engage with that character and become invested with them. Of course, a good writer telling a great story can usually get me past that.

So, readers...do you really care about character names, one way or the other? Would other writers like to share how they name their characters?

KAILY HART, WRITER

With Love Valentines Day Blog Hop AKA...Win Stuff!

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