Carly Phillips's Blog: Carly's Web Blogs, page 57
May 21, 2014
Wednesday!
Is there a more active guest blogger than yesterday’s Jeannie Moon? Give her a huge round of applause! I know I am! And the winner of Jeannie’s ebook copy of THE WEDDING SECRET IS:
# 4 – Suzey49
Thank you! Suzey please contact me at carly phillips books @ gmail dot com to claim your prize!
*****
What times does your day end? I was talking about this with some friends – some feel they get up so early in the morning that their day ends around 3 PM/4 PM – at that point it’s time to wind down, get dinner going, put on sweats and say NOBODY BOTHER ME! If you work out of the home, you can’t do that. The day is longer and you wrap up later … I fall into the 3-4 PM category. During the week especially, if you ask me to go anywhere, do anything later in the afternoon, evening, I will think you’ve lost your mind. Call my house after 8 PM and I’m so in my own head and decompressing, I won’t be worth anything to you! What about you? When do you start your official wind down of the day?
May 20, 2014
Guest Blogger Jeannie Moon!
I am so excited to bring you this guest post … one because I love Jeannie Moon’s books and two because … well … she’ll explain it to you, LOL! So welcome guest author JEANNIE MOON! 
FROM JEANNIE: Carly is good at Dares…and I don’t just mean the heroes of her new books. After being part of an interview on my blog, she dared me to answer my own interview questions. (I guess they’re tough.) So to celebrate my new release, The Wedding Secret, I’m answering my own questions. Okay. *rubs hands together* Here goes.
Tell us about The Wedding Secret.
The Wedding Secret tells the story of Harper Poole, whom we met in The Temporary Wife, and Kevin Rossi, the older brother of Meg and Caroline from my first two books. Kevin is a pro baseball player, Harper is a hard-nosed executive and they have chemistry in spades.
I’m a sucker for swoon-worthy heroes and you are a pro at writing them. Why are your readers going to fall for Kevin? At first they may not. The truth is Kevin could drive you crazy. He’s a gorgeous pro athlete. He seems to know what he wants, but he makes a bunch of boneheaded moves that really makes you question whether or not he deserves our heroine after all. Kevin is all about the personal epiphany. Once he has that, he’s ready to sweep you off your feet.
There’s been a surge in athlete heroes on romance. What do you think prompted the interest?
Um, perfectly toned physical specimens that we can endow with any quality we want? Where do I sign up? Truthfully, I’ve always been a fan of the athlete in romance. They’re the modern day rogues and rakes.
The Forever Love Stories have a quick turn around time and you have to write the books fast.
How is it going? Um, very fast. I’m writing a book now that comes out in October. It was only sold in April, it took me a few weeks to flesh out and now I’m writing. Deadlines are tight and it’s made harder by the fact that I have a full time job.
In your opinion, what’s the hardest part about writing romance? The easiest?
The hardest? Drafting. I don’t like it, I love my ideas and my characters, but actually getting the information down is tough. The easiest is revising. I love the process of polishing a book until it shines.
Do you have any quirky routines you go through before – during or after – you start writing?
My office has to be clean. If there’s clutter or it needs vacuuming, I can’t work.
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors? Pearls of wisdom? Warnings?
The classic, don’t give up. The right break will find you. It took me twelve years to get my first contract. I had a number of close calls, but it took a long time.
What’s the best part of this job?
Hearing from readers that my books made them happy. The. Best. The other thing is the romance community. I’ve met so many wonderful writers who are now good friends.
Now we’re going to take a page from James Lipton who hosted Inside the Actor’s Studio. I need quick responses to the following hot seat questions:
Where do you write? Usually my office; sometimes the kitchen table.
Anything you have to have with you when you sit down to work? Coffee
Laptop or desktop? Both. Dropbox is my savior.
Favorite romance plot device? Secret baby and I love wallflower stories.
Least favorite romance plot device? No one in particular.
What’s the hardest part of the writing process? The first draft.
Favorite writing music? It depends on the book.
What trait in a man do you find most sexy? Kindness.
The least sexy? Lack of intelligence
You’re book is going to be made into a movie. Who play the lead roles?
This book. Hmmm. I had Henry Cavill in mind when I pictured Kevin, all square jawed and adorable. Harper has always been Chyler Leigh. She has the right combination of looks, sweetness and kick your ass attitude.
I’ll give away one digital copy of The Wedding Secret to a lucky poster. (domestic only, sorry)J
Thank you so much for having me! Here’s where readers can find me!
Please sign up for my newsletter to keep up on new releases and big news:
http://jeanniemoon.com/contest/
You can find excerpts from my books and my blog on my website at:
I love Facebook. Connect with me there by going to:
https://www.facebook.com/jeanniemoon?ref=hl
Jeannie Moon has always been a romantic. When she’s not spinning tales of her own, Jeannie works as a school librarian, thankful she has a job that allows her to immerse herself in books and call it work. Married to her high school sweetheart, Jeannie has three kids, three lovable dogs and a mischievous cat and resides on Long Island, NY. If she’s more than ten miles away from salt water for any longer than a week, she gets twitchy. The Wedding Secret is the third book in her Forever Love Series from InterMix. Visit Jeannie’s website at www.jeanniemoon.com
May 19, 2014
Dare to Surrender ARC Winner
Well, it was a long, exciting, proud weekend. My oldest is now a college graduate. OMG! I just came home and I’m exhausted, so today I’m going to post the winner of the DARE TO SURRENDER e-ARC contest. I’ll also give you a GABE TEASER!
The winner is: CHERYL HASTINGS!
Congratulations Cheryl and thanks everyone for entering! Cheryl has been notified via email.
And now GABE and ISABELLE – DARE TO SURRENDER – on sale in all formats including print on July 15th! (click photo to enlarge)
In the meantime you can preorder here:
iBooks – http://tinyurl.com/l2ky9dx
Kindle – http://amzn.to/1tyN9DL
HAPPY MONDAY!
May 17, 2014
Saturday – BOOKS!
At my daughter’s College Graduation. Ack! And working on a major surprise … so in the meantime, WHAT ARE YOU READING!?
May 15, 2014
Dare to Surrender Giveaway!
Easy peasy! Enter to win a copy of DARE TO SURRENDER in your choice of eBook format! As soon as it’s available, I’ll send to the winner. Since my daughter is graduating college and I won’t have internet access at all times, winner posted Monday instead of Sunday!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This Week …
Has totally gotten away from me. Another day another late post!
Loved this … 
Do you reread books? I typically don’t …
May 14, 2014
Late & Tired Because …
Up till 1 AM reading Cherise Sinclair’s newest, EDGE OF THE ENFORCER, this after glomming my girl Lexi Blake’s DUNGEON GAMES. #InkHeart . Neither one ever disappoints in Erotic Romance!
Edge of the Enforcer - Cherise Sinclair – http://amzn.to/1sMVrXa
Dungeon Games - Lexi Blake – http://amzn.to/1hLp6co
More May read info on Saturday!
Anyone else ever stay up half the night ON a release day? Now they’re over …. Waah!
May 13, 2014
Mulch
Yes, it’s that time of year. We mulched around the shrubs and bushes in the yard. Why do the dogs think it’s a sandbox for them to play in? Dig up? Come into the house covered in it, then proceed to SHAKE THEMSELVES OUT with glee? I should have taken a picture of the floor before I swept it up. And they wonder why they aren’t allowed in my bed tonight … It’s a darn good thing they’re so cute. And no, this isn’t post-mulching play pics. Sigh … LOL.
May 12, 2014
Really Cool News
I finished writing DARE TO SURRENDER! I can’t tell you how excited I am. Gabe and Isabelle are so unique and different for me – some of you may have seen – this book is in first person – it’s a stretch for me – and I started to write it during a dark time in my life when I wanted to write just for me. I’m so happy that the story was able to fit into both the DARE series and INVITATION TO EDEN – and I could finish and bring it to you. I know July 15th is a long ways away but it’s not as long as if you had to wait for a traditionally published book!
When I can’t think of a blog topic, I am going to answer questions that you all have asked me.
Martina C. asked -
I always wondered how do authors pick their covers? Are they made for each book individually or do you use stock pictures and customize them to your book? And how long does it take you too pick the perfect cover picture?
Carly answers - If we’re talking indie authors (not NY publishers who really do all the picking) – the answer varies by author. I, personally, don’t mind if the picture on my cover is occasionally used by another author as long as my book cover is unique and people recognize it as a Carly cover. My name font and placement ensures this. Yes, it’s stock but it’s carefully selected. I could pay more for exclusive rights, but honestly I like the flexibility of being able to change a cover if it doesn’t work for me and if I pay a ton for the rights, I’d be more hesitant to do that. I am not a good picture / couple searcher – so I tend to either ask someone to help, another author or my cover artist. I have to fall in love with the couple, but once I find them, I don’t feel like I need to see more. So for me it doesn’t take all that long. The fabulous Kim Killion at Hot Damn Designs does my covers for DARE books and my other indie works.
I’m sure you noticed INVITATION TO EDEN / DARE TO SURRENDER doesn’t go with the other covers. The reason for this is that the covers for the Eden books have a certain “look” and each author worked within that. I did pick my couple, though! And yes, the pearls in the cover are worked into the story. Frauke at Croco Designs did the Eden covers and they’re gorgeous. Once all Eden books have been out for awhile, we all have the option of individualizing our covers. I will worry about that when the time comes.
I hope this answers the question! Thoughts? More questions?
May 11, 2014
Happy Mother’s Day!
There are many kinds of moms. Happy Mother’s Day to all! 
