E.M. Tippetts's Blog, page 4

Preorder Shattered Castles for $0.99

For anyone who hasn't yet read my books, Castles on the Sand and Love in Darkness, here's a special offer for you. I've got the box set of both books up for preorder on

AmazoniBooks Kobo 
for $0.99. Nook readers, I will price it at $0.99 on launch day so that you can get in on the deal. 
Launch day for this one will be September 22nd.
Pelican Bluffs is a town built on secrets. Nestled away among the redwoods on the northern California coast, it is the only home Madison Lukas has ever known. Her classmates have been the same since she started kindergarten, and now that she's a junior in high school, the wider world looms on the horizon, but it's hard to know where to go when she has no idea where she came from. 
Then one day, a message arrives from a stranger. A man who knows her face and her past, and who starts Madison on a journey of self discovery that she never could have imagined. Along the way friends turn into enemies and lives shatter. Can Madison Lukas endure the truth and come into her own? Or will the secrets that destroyed her family, destroy her as well?
This box set is of just those two books. There is no extra material, so if you already have the other two books, this one will be the same text, minus a few typos. That beautiful cover and the box set graphic were done by Rebecca Berto of Berto Designs. She does gorgeous work!
When I start publishing my fantasy serial, early next year, the prices of my novels will go up a few dollars, so if you're on the fence, buy sooner rather than later!

Paint Me True is Free on Amazon, August 23-27

Paint Me True is one of my LDS fiction novels, from the days when I wrote for Covenant (a publisher that was, at the time, owned by the LDS church.) Don't let the religious content scare you off, though. I write stories about people who happen to be religious, not religious propaganda about how everyone needs to convert. This is a love story, one I dedicated to my husband, Trevor. And it's free, so I can provide a money back guarantee if you don't like it ;-)

Download for free on Amazon
Eliza Dunmar is about to turn thirty-one and fears her best days are behind her. Soon she'll be too old to attend church in a singles ward, her career as a painter is no longer considered cool, and she feels too old to use the excuse that she's "just starting out" to explain why she still can't pay the bills. The only man interested in her is a scruffy, video game addicted nerd who is the first to admit that they are all wrong for each other.
When her beloved Aunt Nora calls from England and begs her to visit, Eliza leaps at the chance. Even better? Nora had the perfect romance with her late husband and is eager to share the tale. As Eliza sets out to immortalize this courtship in a series of paintings, she learns a lesson that will change her outlook on life and love forevermore.

Released! The German edition of Break It Up

It may seem a little silly to write in English about the German edition of Break It Up , but it's the only language I can write in. I've teamed up with Michael Drecker, my German translator, yet again. Currently the book is having a good launch day, having just cracked the top 1000 on Amazon.de.

And it's fantastic to work with Michael again. I highly recommend him, though he may not be taking on any more clients at the moment. Both the first and second novels he translated for me cracked the Amazon.de top 100.

Paperback Out and Next Release

The paperback for A Safe Space  is live, now, for anyone wanting that.

Meanwhile, my next release will actually be two already published books. I'm going to put Castles on the Sand and Love in Darkness into a box set entitled: Shattered Castles. Check out the GORGEOUS cover Rebecca Berto at Berto Designs made for it!


This will be out at the end of September!

Meet Lizzie Warner, your typical teen, except...

Nineteen is supposed to be an age of promise, a time of transition from the awkward teen years into the adult world. For all too many, though, it's a time of crisis, a time when we feel we should have all the answers to who we are and what we'll do for the rest of our lives, but we've only just begun to learn how to ask those questions.

While a lot of Hollywood romance on the market are modernized fairytales, I'm more interested in finding the mundane behind the glitz and the glamor. It's hard enough when in your first year of college or post-high school break to figure out what you want to do next. Imagine how much harder it is when you've already had a career that most people never attain.

Meet Lizzie Warner, child superstar with her own television series and music career. She's been famous for as long as she can remember, literally. And while she's earned bucketloads of money, she doesn't have any left in her bank account to show for it. She didn't learn to manage her own finances until too late, so in this respect, she's like any other nineteen year old.

Only, rather than dream of her future, she fears that all her dreams are now things of the past. Much like the honor student who fears college because they know the competition for Dean's List will be stiffer, or the popular student who wonders if they're destined to disappear once they step out into the wider world, Lizzie is afraid of what's to come. While she acted in a children's television program with bouncy enthusiasm and cute grins, the actors she's now competing with for roles were in drama school, putting in hours and years of work honing their craft.

If she can't keep working, she's got a very long life ahead of her. For the first time her life, she's got to figure out who she's going to be, and how she's going to get by.

It's not the ideal time to find love. A person needs to know herself before she can find her perfect match, but she's got an inexplicable crush on one of the personal trainers at her gym. He's gorgeous, but that shouldn't matter. She works in Hollywood. He's arrogant, abrasive, and shows women no respect. He calls, Lizzie "Veronica", the name of her television character.

So is her fascination with him just a bad impulse borne of lack of experience, or something else entirely? I won't spoil the plot, but I can say this, this crush of hers is not who anyone thinks he is.

Launched!

And we are live!
[image error]
Here are the buy links:
AmazonB&NKobo
iTunes is being slow but I'll get the link up when it's ready. The paperback will take about a week to get into print.

Countdown to the launch of A Safe Space!

That's right, the tour's about to begin. The first posts will appear on Sunday, and the ebook will be for sale on Tuesday. The paperback will follow soon after - it usually takes about a week or so to get the paperback into print.

I'm busy formatting and chasing down every last typo I, my editor, and my beta readers could find!

My Writing Process Blog Tour

I'm a day late on this one. Yesterday I ended up helping out an author with a formatting crisis, and by the time I was done, so was the day, so I delayed the post until this morning.

Kiini Ibura Salaam invited me to join this blog tour, and before I answer the tour questions, I need to rhapsodize about her. She describes herself as: A writer, painter, and traveller from New Orleans, Louisiana. The middle child of five, she grew up in a hardscrabble neighborhood with oak and fig trees, locusts and mosquitoes, cousins and neighbors. Kiini's work delves into spheres of human liberation, human connection, and evolution. She employs speculative fiction, erotica, and creative nonfiction to take readers through mind-bending journeys into the transcendent, the sensual, the mystical, and the fantastic.

In the thirteen years since she and I met at the Clarion West Writers Workshop, she's been a steady, mentoring presence in my inbox, thanks to her KIISList emails, in which she's charted her creative and personal development and given a steady stream of encouragement to all of us working towards our own creative goals. (Send an email to kiiniiburasalaam [at] hotmail.com to join.) During this time she's earned her MFA in creative writing from Antioch, published countless short stories, articles, and essays. Painted gorgeous paintings, and won the James Tiptree Award. To hear more about her in her own words, check out this interview I did with her on The Black Gate. Her award winning collection of short stories, Ancient, Ancient , is available at all major booksale venues.

Okay, now on to answering questions for this blog tour:

1) What are you working on?

I'm currently doing the veeery final polishing on A Safe Space, which will be out July 15th. This is the story of Lizzie Warner, a child star who has aged out of her role on her hit series and now finds herself ill prepared for life as an adult. Her biggest challenge is her crush on a womanizing bad boy named Devon who is seven years her senior. He is all wrong for her, but her feelings persist regardless.

And then I've started work on The Hunt for the Big Bad Wolf, which is the third book in the Fairytale franchise. I intended to write this before A Safe Space, but Lizzie and Devon wouldn't leave me alone, so I decided to write that one while the creative juices were flowing. The nice thing about a series like Fairytale is that those characters are familiar enough to me that I know they'll be there even if I put them off for another book. (A Safe Space is also a Fairytale spinoff; Kyra Armijo is Lizzie's roommate.)

2) How does your work differ from others' work in the same genre?

It differs in a ton of little ways that ensure it's impossible to join in anyone's joint marketing efforts it seems! My work is sweet romance because I personally don't think sex scenes are the interesting part of romance. It's everything that leads up to the characters getting together that is, for me, the meat of the story. Having said that, my work doesn't preach chastity or anything like that. I'm not interested in moralizing. Given this, my work usually falls straight into the chasm between people who like steamy scenes and people who believe they have no place in literature.

So I write new adult stories that focus on all the emotional and logistical aspects of coming of age, rather than the physical and sexual. Lizzie, for example, can't fall right into bed with Devon. He'd eat her alive. There's a lot of groundwork to be laid before these two can possibly come together.

3) Why do you write what you do?

Because these are the characters who speak to me. Really, that's the only answer I can give. I once asked author, Lee K. Abbott, whether he wrote with a purpose and I'll never forget his answer. He said that the only purpose for writing is the purpose the old man at the beginning of Rime of the Ancient Mariner feels, that overwhelming urge to grab people and say, "I've seen something that I've got to tell you about!"

I do put thought into social issues and check my work for stereotyping. When JP in Castles turned out to be such a jerk, that really upset me because he's one of my only African American characters. Kyra's wild past I make sure to balance out with a broader cast of Hispanic characters who have all different kinds of backgrounds. Most importantly, I make sure the love stories play out as realistically as possible. A lot of romance plays on the "taming the bad boy" theme, but the solution just seems to be, "She is the one for him and that's it." In my books, there's always a lot more to it than that.

4) How does your writing process work?

First I need to find an idea I'm excited about, and then I write it until I can read through the draft without distraction. I figure that if it's something I'd struggle to read, I can't expect anyone else to bother. As for what my usual writing schedule is like, I no longer worry about writing every day. I've been producing stories for over twenty-five years at this point, so I know that even if I take a break now and then, it won't affect my overall output. Instead I just make sure that writing is always a part of my life. When I have a free moment, I plot books and break scenes in my head, and write as much as I can without sweating the word counts. When typing is hard, I write by hand and vice versa.

__

Normally in a blog tour like this, I'd name two authors I passed these questions along to, but in my years of blogging, I've always struggled to find people for chains like this, so I usually end up being a dead end. I don't mind this. It's a pretty expansive chain. For me, it was way more important to support Kiini, whom I can't recommend highly enough, and to update readers about my writing, than to have two more authors link to me next week, though if anyone else wants to pick up the chain, they are most welcome to. Just email me.

COVER REVEAL! A Safe Space, out next month

 We are thrilled to share this gorgeous cover and excerpt for A Safe Space by E.M. Tippetts!  Let us know what you think and don't forget to add it to your TBR!
Title: A Safe SpaceAuthor: E.M. Tippetts
Age Group: NA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Cover Designer: Okay Creations, Sarah Hansen
Release date: July 2014
Goodreads



Everyone needs a safe space.
For Lizzie Warner, that space has always been in front of the camera on her hit show, or on stage to a sold out concert arena. Since before she can remember, she’s been a star, but that may be about to change.

She’s nineteen. Her show has been cancelled and now she’s going to play the lead in a new prime time drama series, but is the world ready to take her seriously, or will she be typecast as the cute tween queen forever?

Her network has decided to be aggressive and has invested millions of dollars in an ad campaign for her show, money she’s not sure she can earn back. Her co-star can’t stand her, and the writing for the show turns out to be poor at best. The only reason Lizzie didn’t walk away from the job offer to begin with is because she’s broke, the victim of a decade of bad money management.

Then there’s Devon, the personal trainer at her gym. Arrogant and abrasive, he’s the last guy she should ever find attractive, but she has a hopeless crush on him anyway, and he doesn’t seem entirely disinterested either. In fact, sometimes he’s downright sweet to her. If only he weren’t an untamable bad boy who uses and dumps women like they’re nothing. Though Lizzie’s friends warn her to stay away, he’s the only person who can create what she needs: a safe space. But is there any way she can break him of his years' long habit of being a user?


Excerpt Clues
As Devon swaggers through the gym, there’s a sweep of female heads turning, like the wake behind a boat in water. He ignores them, though, and comes straight to me.

My mind races, desperate to have a witty response ready for whatever obnoxious, arrogant crack he’s about to make. I avert my eyes from his toned body, flawless complexion, and those piercing hazel eyes. (I never thought of hazel as a piercing color before I met this guy.)

I stand in my designer blouse, jeans, and boots by the exit with my roommate, Kyra, who digs in her purse for her keys, oblivious to his approach. When she looks up, her mouth turns down in a scowl. “Don’t, Devon,” she says.

“Don’t what?” His eyes are wide with innocence and his mouth is curled into its usual smirk.

I draw myself up to my full height, unsure whether I should look right at him defiantly or look away, as if he’s beneath my notice. If this were scene, I think, and he were the male romantic lead… wait, do I want to think of him as the romantic lead? Does that give too much of my hand away? Suffice it to say I’m not navigating this situation with the kind of cool, collected air I aspire to.

“Have a good day, Veronica,” he says to me.

“That,” says Kyra. “Stop calling her that. Lizzie is what we call an actress. The stuff you see her do on television isn’t real. Let me know if I’m throwing too many concepts at you too fast.”

He directs his attention to her.

Now, I think, here’s my chance. I should mock him for watching children’s television (that’s where I played the “Veronica” he’s referring to), or double down on Kyra’s insult about not understanding that I’m an actress. Anything to puncture his ego.

I’ve acted on a show watched by millions of people around the world, sang whole concerts to sold out arena venues, and in front of this one guy, I choke. I cannot string together a coherent insult. My only saving grace is that he isn’t looking at me and doesn’t see my blank and no doubt embarrassed expression.

“Hey, so you said you wanted to know a good app for a pedometer,” he says to Kyra, whipping out his phone and showing her the screen.

The moment for trading insults has passed and I just stand, feeling like a third wheel while my roommate talks to her personal trainer, her silky black ponytail bobbing as he shows her some options.

“All right, bandwrecker?” he jibes.

There, another opportunity. He just insulted Kyra. I should say… something.

“That should be fine, man-whore,” she replies. “Let’s go Lizzie. Hey, you gonna wish Lizzie good luck for her first day on the set of her new show?”

“I’m still not over All About Veronica being cancelled. This is a painful moment for me,” he replies.

“Why do you watch Nickelodeon?” I blurt out.

“It’s quality programming,” he says without missing a beat. “And as your roommate here will tell you, it’s at my intellectual level.” He holds his hand horizontal to the floor, at about waist height. Then with a wink he turns away. “Ladies,” he says to a couple of women ogling him on the gym floor. “May I help you with anything?”

They both giggle and it’s clear they have him pegged for the superficial, commitment adverse player that he is. It’s also clear that he doesn’t mind. His confidence doesn’t diminish, not even a little bit, that’s how sure he is that he can have his way with any girl he wants. From what I’ve seen, he’s right.

Kyra shoots him a withering look behind his back. But that fades as soon as she turns to me. “You ready?”

I shake my head.

“You’ll kill it,” she says, leaning on the door that opens to the parking garage. “You can do this.”

I follow her out and do my best to act confident. A glance over my shoulder reveals that Devon’s paused to watch us leave. I look away fast. He’s a jerk, I tell myself. He’s a user. It doesn’t matter that he’s gorgeous; I work in Hollywood. Gorgeous is normal.

It’s as if there’s always a spotlight on Devon, though. No matter where he is in the room, I can sense him out of the corner of my eye.

Kyra holds out her hand, and we fist bump before we part ways, her to her red Jeep Liberty that she calls “Libby,” and me to the car that waits at the curb. I greet the driver as I climb in the back.

He turns to hand me the half-caff soy latte I requested he pick up on the way, and then we’re off.
I shut my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. I can do this. I can do this. The set is a safe space. A safe space. This is the mantra that has worked for me for over a decade. Don’t get me wrong, acting classes and coaching help a lot too, but this was the secret my mother unlocked for me at the very beginning of it all. People respect the set and the stage. There are social rules that prevent them from mocking or laughing. The more relaxed and expressive you can be, the more people respect what you do, provided you’re inside that safe space.





Author bio:
Emily Mah Tippetts writes science fiction as Emily Mah and sweet romance as E.M. Tippetts. A lifelong New Mexican, she lives with her family in Santa Fe, though she's been known to spend years at a time in the UK, her second home. Aside from being a writer, she's been a lawyer and jeweler, and is currently a stay at home mother, polymer clay artist, book designer/formatter, and owner of E.M. Tippetts Book Designs.

Links:
Mailing list: eepurl.com/vS_wz
Website: www.emtippetts.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emtippetts
Twitter: twitter.com/emtippetts (@EMTippetts)

New Reviewers' section on the site and my next cover reveal

Signups are now open for the cover reveal for my next novel, A SAFE SPACE. Here's the blurb for the book:

Everyone needs a safe space.
For me it was always in front of the camera. I played the lead on the hit show, All About Veronica, from when I was twelve until I was eighteen and the series got cancelled. It was the perfect life for me, and I loved it.

Now I’m too old for that kind of role, and the set of my new show is not a safe space. Everyone’s a critic, certain that I don’t have what it takes to break out of my typecast as a child star. Deep down, I agree with them. All those years I was hamming it up in front of the cameras and working nonstop, everyone else my age lived their lives and grew up. I’m still twelve years old on the inside; I’ve never even had my first kiss.

Which is why I need to avoid Devon, one of the personal trainers at my gym. He is the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever met, but he’s awful. He uses women and brags about how he doesn’t do relationships or even second dates. He mocks me and my hit show every chance he gets. But, whenever life gives me more than I can handle, I want to turn to him, pour out my heart and lean on him for comfort. This is a fantasy that I have to shake before he catches on to the power he has over me. It’s just that when he stops smirking and we set the mockery aside, we have these moments when I almost feel safe once more.
___

To sign up, go here: http://www.wordsmithpublicity.com/2014/05/cover-reveal-safe-space-by-em-tippetts.html. I've also added a section for reviewers to my site here, so if you ever want to participate in any of my cover reveals or blog tours, check there for the latest sign ups!