Selena Blake's Blog, page 66

SSFI: Selena Blake books in order

Good morning (evening) Sexy Readers!

I've got a new edition of Someone Searched For It Sunday prepared for you. Grab your coffee and have a read.

Search Term: selena blake books in order

I can help with that!

Series: Stormy Weather

The Cajun's Captive
Bitten in the Bayou
Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf
Mated to a Cajun Werewolf
Stranded with a Cajun Werewolf

Series: Deep Space Encounters

Reclaiming Isis
Rescuing Natacha
Azula's Rebellion

Stand Alone Books

Just a Little Taste
Surprising Darcy

For future reference, on my Books page you'll find links to all my books in the order they were originally released and in the order they should (theoretically) be read if they're in a series. You'll also find a link to a page I keep regarding the series I've written. There's also a link to a Genre/Theme page and a Coming Soon page.

Snippet Saturday: The Moment

Today's snippet is about the moment. To me, the moment is when the hero and heroine's world's collide. That first intense moment where their gazes lock and they either hate each other, fall for each other, or…well, you'll see.

From: Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf (Coming soon)

The rain fell in heavy drops, but she didn't seem to notice. In the dim light of the street lamps, he could see her clearly now. Slowly, she lifted her hands and pushed back the thick fabric hiding her face. She was almost too beautiful to look at—and yet, Laurent couldn't seem to look away.

He knew that face as well as he knew his own.

His breath left his lungs in a rush. Her eyes were just as blue as he remembered, only now they seemed to glow. Her skin was still dewy and perfect, like that of a fine porcelain doll. Ethereal. Her brows were perfect arches, the same charcoal brown he'd been fascinated by all those years ago. Even in the darkness, he could make out the thick lashes that fringed her eyes.

Those eyes…so blue, so beautiful. He felt like he'd been kicked in the gut by a mule. Damn, she was beautiful. But his mind raced with questions. Most importantly, what was she doing standing in the middle of a street in New Orleans when she'd died two hundred years ago in France?

His arms and legs felt heavy, and he realized he was getting drenched. But it didn't matter. He'd stand in a hurricane if it meant finding out if she, if Violet, were real. Or if he'd finally lost his mind and was only envisioning her.

Her lips were just as rosy as he remembered; her nose as perfectly shaped, her face oval and oh so familiar.

She remained silent. Did she recognize him?

He stepped closer, silently praying to the gods, Fates, and anyone else who would listen. Sniffing the air, he tried to catch her scent but she was downwind.

"Violet?" He didn't like the husky tone of his voice. Hated the weakness in his knees, the soreness that resided where his heart had once been. Loathed the desire he still felt for a woman long dead.

Could his eyes be playing tricks on him? Could this woman really be his little Violet? After all these years?

Not trusting himself or his luck, he took another step. She lifted her hands to her lips, almost as if she were praying. Her fingernails were long and polished a glossy red.

A sharp ache erupted inside his chest, and he reached up to rub it. His hand brushed something, and he looked down to see a dart sticking out of his skin. Plucking it out, he stared at the woman before him. Then she and the rest of the world went dark.

Visit the other Saturday Snippet Authors:

Jody Wallace

Emma Petersen

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

Eliza Gayle

TJ Michaels

Lauren Dane

Helen Kay Dimon

Leah Braemel

I'm so excited! And other news…

Hello dear readers! Hope you're having a great week and stayin' sexy.

I am so excited! Ask me why. Anyone? *crickets*

Why!?

Have you see the new Oscar commericals? With Anne Hathaway and James Franco? OMG! They are so funny. And so cute together! Here's one:

Yeah, so now you get why I'm totally excited. Counting down the minutes until the Oscars.

Also, Dancing with the Stars is supposed to announce the Season 12 Cast on Monday. I'm counting down to that as well. I suppose that means I'll have to sit through another episode of The Bachelor.

If you have a minute today, drop by the TRS blog where I posted a review of No Strings Attached. I have a few more stops on my blog tour. I hope you'll join me.

Mood: focused

Drinking: Coke Zero

Working on: Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf

Listening to: Adam Lambert

Reading: Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole

Visiting: 10 Ways to Improve Your "Likability Quotient"

Presto-Chango: Splash Page

This one's for the writers & marketing gurus in the audience. (And yes, readers, I am hard at work on the latest book. Writing thus on my lunch break. Promise.)

Since I've started my journey as an Indie author I've been paying more attention to marketing tips. I came across a tip the other day that compounded what I'd been thinking for a while.

My splash page needed a presto-chango.

Originally, I wanted my splash page to do one thing: warn off unsuspecting readers who might not know that I write spicy romance.

Here's a snapshot of the original:

The original splash page went with the original design of my site. When I had my site redesigned, I didn't change it. Why fix what's not broken, right? Wrong.

Here's the new splash page:

Taking advice from the article I mentioned above, I turned my splash page into a landing page. According to the article "a landing page is a place you send traffic when you really want some action." It still warns readers what to expect but it does more. There's a new option.

Try SB for Free!

This new button is designed to send readers to my newsletter sign up where they'll get info on all my free reads. Like many readers, I like to try before I buy. My readers are no different. So there's my action item.

I changed a few other things:

1. The article says to have a dynamite headline. Well, there's not really a headline on my splash page. At least, there wasn't. After some brainstorming, I turned my warning message into a headline. It used to read: This website is intended for mature audiences.

Boring, right?

It now reads: WARNING: Hot, seductive, un-put-downable romance inside. Enter at your own risk. Bring a fire extinguisher. Selena Blake and her characters are not responsible for spontaneous combustion.

In other words, this website is intended for mature audiences.

2. It advised making your landing page look as simple as possible. I opted to go with the design of the rest of the site. Since I wanted to give readers a taste of what they can expect from me and the rest of my site, I have a few news items on the left and covers at the bottom. Nothing too busy. Because we don't want to take away from point three.

3. I ask readers to chose between three things. Enter, leave or Try SB for Free! Nothing overly complicated. No "buy now!" This may, of course, change in the future.

Have I noticed any changes?

Actually, I have. Within the first few hours of the new splash page being launched, I already have two new sign ups to my newsletter. Not bad. Not bad at all. I'll be monitoring my statistics to see if my bounce rate decreases and if the time visitors spend on the splash page increases. I don't expect either to happen. By my way of thinking, you want your splash page to warn people, welcome them, maybe get them to sign up to your newsletter, but they shouldn't be hanging out on your welcome mat. They should be strolling through your site, learning more about you and your books.

How about you?

Do you have a splash page? Leave me a link so I can come visit. Any thoughts on the subject?

Guest: Jude Liebermann & Pandora's Box

Please help me welcome my special guest Jude Liebermann.  We're swapping blogs for the day, which means I'm over here: www.judesplace.com/blog Once you get done here, hop over and see me.

I had a few quick getting to know you question's and then on to Jude's new book. Read on:

How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a writer and how did that decision affect your life?

This wasn't really a conscious decision, since I've been writing for as long as I can remember: poetry before the age of 10, fiction at the age of 11, first romance at 13 and first novel at 18. I've never known a time when I didn't want to write. Since it isn't my career though, writing hasn't impacted my life. Accounting pays the bills.

Who do you think are some of the most under appreciated writers, either contemporary or in history?

Self published authors are the most under appreciated, that's for sure. Of course, it doesn't help that some of these writers shouldn't publish, but there are many more who work hard but find it hard to get recognized. I guess I'm biased since I am one of those self published authors. Luckily, I have had my work recognized by Cobblestone Press, but it's still hard to be taken seriously as a writer if you don't have a major book publisher backing you.

What's a typical writing day like for you?

A typical writing day? What's that? I've never had one of those. When I'm inspired to write, I will be at my keyboard every day for hours at a time. Other times I can go months, even years, without writing a word. When I force myself to write, I may try to get a few hundred words a week, just to keep the creative juices flowing. I currently have two writing projects that are on hold, and who knows when I will be inspired enough to continue either.

Jude's current release is Pandora's Box, available now from Cobblestone Press.

Pandora was a successful career woman. She had it all, a nice job and a live-in boyfriend, but something was missing. She then gets the surprise of her life on her birthday, a gigolo.

Cameron is everything she's ever wanted in a lover, and he shows her what true passion really is. Can she go back to the sedate life she had with Brian? Will she want to?

Read an excerpt

Borders Vs. Online Booksellers

With Borders recently announcing they're filing for Chapter 11 I've noticed a tension within the book community. And for good reason. Some 200 bookstores will be closing their doors soon. As a book lover, that makes my stomach ache. Not only are bookworms losing their haven, booksellers are losing their jobs.

A recent post at The Book Lady's Blog drove the point home. One comment in particular pointed the finger at large sellers (I'm assuming Amazon here) as the culprit. But, I have to respectfully disagree with the statement that the "giant online seller does absolutely nothing for their community – no jobs, no taxes, no nothing." That is perhaps true for many, but not all.  Amazon has been taking a chunk out of the retail space for years with their enormous store, free shipping, and low prices. I'm not denying that. It's obviously hard for brick and mortar stores to compete.

But, that giant online seller is how I make my living and pay all my bills these days. I contribute to my community and pay taxes! So while it hurts to see Border's employees lose their jobs (and I know several of them personally) I don't think it's fair to dismiss the super online retailers that have created many jobs as well. Mine, for instance. And I'm not the only one.  Just my $.02.

Guest blogging at FreshFiction & SensualReads

Yesterday I dropped by FreshFiction to talk about romantic comedies. Ahh, romantic comedies. I love them, don't you? Come see what I think are the 7 keys to a great romantic comedy. Also, I mention 25 of my favorites.

Today I'm at SensualReads telling you how to dress like Selena Blake, that's me! According to my web stats, people are searching: dress like selena blake. You never knew I was such a fashion icon, did you? Well, drop by to see how I do it.

Tomorrow I'm visiting Jude's Place.

Mood: chipper

Drinking: coffee

Listening to: The Crystal Method

Working on: Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf (previously titled Bound and Determined)

SSFI: How to Buy Selena Blake Books

Hello Sexy Readers!

Reading through the search terms that bring visitors to my site is often interesting, sometimes surprising and occasionally, my eyebrows hit the ceiling. Like one time, someone searched for "hot werewolf sex." I hope they found some in my books. *wink*

Sometimes these terms are similar to questions I get in my inbox. So I thought I'd grab a random one each week and address it. And since we all know how much I love alliteration, I'll be calling it Someone Searched For It Sunday. Seeing as it's Sunday, I have one prepared.

Search term: How to Buy Selena Blake Books

This search term must stem from the fact that as of writing this not all of my Stormy Weather books have been rereleased on Kindle and Nook. I've had dozens of people (no, I'm not exagerating) ask me when and where they can get the last books in the series. My answer is always the same. They can buy them from Amazon or Barnes and Noble just as soon as they go on sale.

When will they go on sale? Always a good question and hard to answer. My best advice…keep the notes coming. The encouragement really helps. And sign up for my newsletter so you're notified of new releases.

Back to the search term. How to Buy Selena Blake books. You can purchase my books at

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords
Changeling Press
ARe
Fictionwise

The links above take you to my author page on each of the sites. To purchase: pick the book you want, add it to your cart, follow the site's instructions for purchasing and downloading. Enjoy!

New review for The Cajun's Captive

Good reviews are like birthday cards. Maybe even better than birthday cards. Yes, definitely better. Reviews don't remind me that I'm a year older and bound to get wrinkles any day now!

Good reviews pop into your inbox when you least expect them. Okay, when I least expect them. And somehow, when I need them most. It's uncanny how that happens. Almost as if the universe realizes I need a little pick-me-up.

I'm on record as saying I appreciate all reviews. I do.

But a good review…well, you like birthday cards, don't you?

So imagine my glee when I found a note from a reader/reviewer in my inbox at Facebook today. She'd taken the time (THANK YOU!) to review The Cajun's Captive. I'm so glad she liked it!

"This novella is a fast, sensual read that will keep the heat turned up for you. You just may need a cold shower after you are finished reading. It is a book that can easily be read in one sitting. Sebastian and Amanda are a match made in heaven and the sparks fly from the beginning." ~ Eva Cutter Coppersmith

If you've written a review of one of my books, please let me know! Thanks!

Interview at Madison Chase's blog

Hola everyone! I'm over at Lissa Matthews blog today celebrating her 40th birthday! She's such a dear friend and I'm hoping that she's been enjoying her birthday party this month. Lots of great authors have shown up to help her celebrate. And good grief, she's giving one of YOU a kindle!!! Head on over and talk birthday cakes with me.

I'm also over at Madison Chase's blog today. You can read an interview with yours truly. I answered questions about my upcoming release, Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf, and my series. I also gave some thoughts on publishing, independent publishing, and writing in general.

Listening to: The Crystal Method

Drinking: Diet Mt Dew

Mood: introspective

Working on: Mated to a Cajun Werewolf

Reading: 5 tips for squashing self-doubt demons by Tawna Fenske