Sami Lee's Blog, page 12
October 1, 2012
September 30, 2012
Breaking the Rules
So in my current WIP I’m breaking a couple rules I’ve always followed. Yes, I follow rules, of a sort—they are my own weird and sometimes wacky rules, but rules they are.
Rule no 1: Don’t write prologues.
Rumor has it a lot of people tend to skip these, or see a long prologue and don’t read the book at all. But my current WIP has a prologue as long as a chapter (events in the prologue take place 10 years prior to the opening of the book, it must be labelled a prologue). This is the way the story began for me and it didn’t want to go any other way. So for now, I’m sticking with the prologue because I think it gives a clear indication of where the characters were at, how they felt, at a time in their life that they later recognise as pivotal.
Rule break no 2: Don’t include flashbacks.
I read somewhere that flashbacks are a risky proposition because they can do one of two things: irritate the reader by interrupting the flow of the story, or grab the reader too well and consequently have them become more interested in events that occurred in the past than they are in the events happening in the now. But what I’ve done is end the prologue at a point were events are unfinished, and used the flashbacks interspersed through the remainder of the book to tell the rest of the story of how that event ended, while moving the story forward in the now as well.
I’m no stranger to breaking the rules. Despite loving the ‘theme’ of romance told from the contemporary perspective, I don’t want to write the same book over and over again. Each book should, if possible, deliver what people expect from a romance novel but provide a surprise or two. I think the structure of this being a little different is a good thing, but I wonder if others agree.
So what do you think? As a reader do you enjoy prologues and/or flashbacks? And as a writer, do you use them or are you leery of doing so?
Cheers,
Sami
September 20, 2012
To blog or not to blog
This post has been X-posted from the Samhain Publishing blog. If you read on, you’ll understand why.
A little over five years ago when my first book came out, I had a website. As far as online promotion went, that was it. People would find me and my books if they wanted to, I thought in complete cluelessness. I’m not a sales person I can’t force anyone to read my stories. A little while later I heard about blogs. Like a website but not as static. You could create one for free and update it as often as you wanted. Apparently THIS was what writers had to do in addition to having a website if they wanted to reach out to readers—provide regularly updated content in between book releases. So I created a blogspot and found I loved writing those posts. I talked about everything from writing craft, to childrearing problems, to social issues. The occasional comments I received were the only indication that anyone was reading what I wrote but they and my love of blogging kept me going.
Then a little later I became aware of this thing called facebook. I avoided it because I figured between writing books, working, mothering and blogging, I couldn’t possibly fit anything else in. But eventually I succumbed, only to be informed someone had mentioned me on twitter. Why? I wondered. I didn’t even have an account. So… I created one. Now I facebook, tweet, pinterest, link in, I’m on various yahoo groups and goodreads, I’m on a group blog and I contribute to several romance blogs and the Samhain blog when my name pops up on the schedule. I love doing all this. But what I’m finding is that because I’m tweeting my every random thought, putting funny pics on facebook and updating my bookshelf on goodreads, when it comes time I need to update my own blog, I’ve run out of things to say.
Yep, me running out of mindless chat. It’s astounding.
I could always of course post a picture of a hot man. I love going out to find those. But in recent times the issue of copyright infringement has come up, making many bloggers gun shy when it comes to capturing pictures from elsewhere on the web and posting them without knowing where the picture originated. All this has got me thinking. Is blogging a dying art?
(Please note: I am aware of the irony here. I’ve written an entire blog post on how I have nothing new and shiny to blog about, and suggested blogging might die out altogether on a blog).
I’m not talking about the ‘big’ blogs here. I’m referring to the personal blogs that writers have been faithfully updating with their latest news, the ones that aren’t supported by advertising and don’t have huge followings. Do writers need to keep a blog anymore? And if so, what should we be putting on there? Mine seems to be used almost exclusively for excerpts and cover reveals now, promotional stuff. All those thoughtful posts about the writing craft and my life have disappeared from my personal blog, as I tend to save them for the guest post positions or my group blog. I’m very time poor, after all. I can’t do everything.
So readers what do you think? Do you still regularly visit author blogs? And authors, do you still use yours in the way you once did or have other social networking sites taken over as the predominate form of communication between you and readers?
Cheers
Sami
September 3, 2012
Moonlight Mirage – Chapter One
Continued from Down Under Divas…
All three Bandicoot Cove: The Wedding books release TODAY, and are available from Samhain or your preferred e book outlet.
Memories raced through his mind before he could prepare for the effect they’d have on his body or his 
conscience. A sultry December night, a late meeting, boxes of Chinese takeaway laid out next to blueprints, and Hayley. Oh God, Hayley. Full of enthusiasm to impress the boss, and him behaving like every bad cliché about company CEOs and their cute, eager-to-please interns.
In his pocket, the electronic beep of Mitch’s phone sounded, shattering his dark thoughts and drawing a scowl from Mack. “Don’t. You. Dare. No business. Give me the phone.”
Mitch froze with his hand halfway to his pocket. “You’ve got to be joking, Mack.”
Brother and sister stared each other down, neither willing to back off. Mitch was reminded of Mack’s fearlessness, conditioned through years of fending off the teasing delivered by six brothers. She wouldn’t hesitate to tackle him just as though they were in their parents’ backyard playing football instead of at a swanky resort.
Mitch’s competitive streak reared. He might be five years his sister’s senior, but he wasn’t quite over the hill yet. No way can she catch me.
Mitch feinted left, then darted to the right. Mack wasn’t fooled, nor was she on her own in this battle. She called to someone behind Mitch and a moment later Mitch’s shoulder connected with something hard, and two arms banded his to his sides.
“Aidan.” No one else Mitch knew had arms the size and firmness of tree trunks. “Let me go.”
Mack pointed a finger at her fiancé. “Don’t.”
Mitch kept himself fit, but an insanely strong fireman who’d do anything for the woman he loved he could not match on physical terms. So he started doing what he did best—negotiating. “Aidan, think about what you’re doing. I’m about to become your brother-in-law.”
“Thinking tends to go out the window where your sister’s concerned,” Aidan drawled. “What exactly am I supposed to do with him, Mack?”
“Take the phone out of his pocket.”
“I am not putting my hand in your brother’s pocket. You do it.”
“Eww. I’m not putting my hand in there either, certainly not while it’s vibrating.” Mack glared at Mitch. “Take the phone out and give it to me.”
Mitch grinned. “In your dreams.”
“Fine,” Mack huffed. “I’ll get backup.”
Scanning the nearby crowd, Mack waved at someone and gestured for them to come over.
“Mack, this is ridiculous. It might not even be the office calling.”
“Sure, and you wouldn’t have that thing surgically attached to your body if you had the chance. They never leave you alone, Mitch.”
“That’s because I’m the boss.”
“What seems to be the problem?”
Mitch’s heart, which had already accelerated during the matchup against his sister and Aidan, moved into triple time. He knew that voice. It was a little richer than the last time he’d heard it, with a sardonic lilt that hadn’t been there before. But the sound of Hayley Bryant’s honeyed tones had haunted his sleep enough nights that he would have recognized them anywhere. With an unsettling mixture of reluctance and bone-deep anticipation, Mitch turned his head.
What he saw stopped his heart altogether.
She’d let her golden hair grow long, so long the ends curled over the very tips of her breasts, which looked absolutely dynamite in a low-cut green dress that perfectly matched the emerald sparkle of her eyes. Wedge heels made her slender frame appear taller than what Mitch knew was only five-foot-four. Hayley’s head barely reached his collarbones. He remembered because she’d opened his shirt and placed a kiss right there that night almost two years ago, before she’d released every other button on the garment and…
Mitch slammed his mind down on that memory because it made his cock twitch inside his pants. Aroused was not a state he wanted to find himself in with a six-foot-plus fireman plastered to his back. It would be better if Hayley Bryant got out of his sight right now so Mack wouldn’t guess the impact her friend had on him.
But right now, drinking in the long-missed sight of her, Mitch couldn’t have asked Hayley to walk away even if he still possessed the power of speech. He felt as though some maniacal hand had curled punishing fingers around his heart and squeezed. Love was not only a damned inconvenient emotion, it was an absolute killer. Oh, Hayley, how did I let you walk away from me? Why did you stay away so long?
Mitch’s heart raced so fast when he heard his sister’s next words, he thought he might suffer an infarction.
“Hales, I need you to frisk my brother.”
Don’t forget Jess and Lexxie’s books:
August 29, 2012
Erica’s Blog Tour Winners
Thank you to everyone who followed the excerpt trail and entered Erica’s Blog Tour competition last week. The winners were drawn out of a hat (actually out of a bread basket) by my Princess and Cherub and they are:
Elaing8 – grand prize of $25 gift voucher at Samhain, Erica’s Choice and one backlist title (she chose Chasing Sunset)
Cathy McDonald – A copy of Erica’s Choice
Phuong – a copy of Erica’s Choice
All winners have been contacted privately and have claimed their prizes.
Thanks everyone!
Sami
August 26, 2012
Winners TBA
Entries to Erica’s Blog Tour competition have now closed. I’m making everyone a ticket (seriously) and Princess and Cherub are going to help me draw out the lucky winners. Stay tuned.
Sami
August 20, 2012
Erica’s Blog Tour Begins
So if you haven’t already heard (yeah, right!), I have a book coming out this week. Erica’s Choice will finally be releasing with Samhain Publishing TOMORROW!!! If you’ve followed me on the long and winding journey of writing this book, you’ll know how hard won this particular release day has been for me. If you’re a new visitor to my site, let me give you the short version:
It was hard.
Now that the difficult work of writing the book is done, it’s time to revel in the rewards. I’m in the mood to party—how about you?
Sami’s Big Comeback Blog Tour: Instructions
There aren’t many instructions because this will be as easy as pie. All you need to do is follow my five stop blog
tour (locations at the end of the post), where I’ll be showcasing a little slice of the book each time. Follow the excerpt trail, answer one simple question about the featured excerpt in a comment, and each answer will go in the draw to win the grand prize of a $25 gift voucher to spend on any book you want at the Samhain store, a copy of Erica’s Choice AND an ebook from my backlist. I’ll also choose two more winners at random from all the comments received, and they will win a copy of Erica’s Choice as well.
Sound good? Free books peeps, and it’s super easy. So let’s start:
Excerpt No 1:
Erica gave Griff her address and he pulled the vehicle out of the car park, having to reach between Erica’s legs for the gearstick. Corey noticed the way Erica stiffened, and winced inwardly. She must think him the classiest guy ever for cramming her in the front seat of a car like a slice of cheese in a club sandwich.
“Erica?” Corey asked after they’d gone a few blocks and the tension in Erica’s body didn’t ease. “Are you comfortable?”
She turned toward him and smiled. Corey recognized irony in the gesture. “Not really.”
“Would you rather sit on my lap?”
She made a tiny whimpering sound. Her face darkened in the dim light emanating from the dashboard instruments. “Do you make that offer to all the girls?”
“No.” He’d sent Madison away, hadn’t he? And thank God he had, or he wouldn’t be here with Erica. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Erica quirked her brow in disbelief, apparently assuming, as most people did, that he never had to wait for any girl. Corey thought of telling her he hadn’t been with as many women as she seemed to think, that he wasn’t nearly as smooth as he wanted to be. A lot of the time his emotions ran away with him, so he wasn’t good at no-strings, casual sex. That was Griff’s department. Corey didn’t see the point of screwing some random woman whose name he could barely remember. Experiences like that left him cold.
Afraid Erica wouldn’t believe him, he simply tried to be as honest as he could without getting into all that. “Erica, I really like being with you. I’ve seen you come into the Sovereign before and I wanted to meet you every time. I wish I’d done it sooner.”
“You wanted to speak to me?” Her surprise was obvious. “Why didn’t you?”
Corey shrugged. Across the car, Griff coughed into his hand meaningfully.
Erica glanced at Griff. “Pardon me?”
“You’re not exactly the most approachable woman in the world,” Griff said baldly. “You have a ‘don’t touch’ look going on.”
“Jeez, Griff.” Corey groaned.
When Erica spoke her voice bordered on icy. “I see.”
“There it is.” Griff glanced toward her before returning his attention to the road. “The look.”
Question: What is the name of the woman that Corey sent away?
(If your comment doesn’t appear straight away, never fear. I have to leave comment moderation on due to spam issues. Sorry! I will read all comments and approve them). I’ll announce the winner at the end of the weekend (26th August) right here. But don’t forget to leave your email address so I can contact you direct.
Where can you read the next excerpts?
Tuesday – Down Under Divas
Wednesday – Day Dreaming Book Reviews
Thursday – International Heat
Friday – Smutketeers
So leave a comment, and good luck!
Sami
August 14, 2012
Latest Gorgeousness
I got the go ahead to release this, so here it is. My first ever Ellora’s Cave cover. What do you think?
Sami
August 9, 2012
You are cordially invited to the wedding of the year
The 4th of September is less than a month away
August 5, 2012
Whoopie!
You’ve all heard of Ellora’s Cave, right? Well as of now you are looking at one of their newest authors. Yep, I’ve had a novel accepted for publication with EC. Woohoo! Me, the time poor, self-doubting, over writer has not one, but two publishers. Think I can handle it? Don’t answer that . 
The book in question will be entitled JUST ONE TASTE. American heiress meets Australian wine maker + case of mistaken identity…oh you’ll hear more as soon as blurb, cover, excerpt etc, are approved. For now, I’ll leave you with this teeny-tiny UNEDITED snippet from Chapter Two:
To say that was the last thing David had expected to hear from her would have been understating his shock dramatically.
Kiss Sarah? He’d been thinking of little else since he first slipped into the lift. Had his interest been that obvious? How bloody embarrassing. David took the heat that flushed his face as his due. It intensified when Sarah laughed “You’re a very intriguing man, David.”
“The sentiment is mutual, Miss Harr—”
She held up a hand to halt the formality. “Don’t you dare start calling me that now.”
That was a fair request, considering she’d already worked out he’d been undressing her in his mind for the past ten minutes. David knew he ought to apologise again but he was beginning to sound ridiculous. He’d always found the adage his mother taught him had served him well throughout his life. Honesty is the best policy. “I’d be lying if I said I don’t find you extremely attractive, Sarah.”
She smiled. “I’d hate for you to tell a lie.”
Cheers,
Sami
