Joely Sue Burkhart's Blog, page 75

NaNoWriMo is Coming

And I'm not ready!

What's left of my sanity insists that I should probably skip this year, but I want to participate so bad.  I love the challenge, the thrill.  I can almost hear the frantic thundering of keyboards all over the world when the clock strikes midnight on Halloween.  It would kill me to miss it…and it might kill me to participate.

As the lack of blog posts shows, my writing mojo has been on vacation for awhile.  Part of it is wearing the many other hats of a writer with releases coming out.  Victor is out and about wielding that wicked crop and I can't help but worry about how he's doing.  How people are receiving him.  He's meaner and harder than Conn, which could work against him.  Who knows.

Meanwhile, I'm still battling Vicki, their youngest sister.  You'd think that the baby of the family would be a piece of cake to pull off, but she's harder than her brothers put together.  I was talking with my friend Jenna yesterday in my daily check-in with her, and she recommended trying tarot to see what my hold up is.  Am I blocking myself?  Why can't I finish Vicki's book, which I've been working on off and on all year?

I got several telling cards:  the hermit, Death, 9 and 3 of Swords.  Ugh.  Take a look at some of those and tell me this book isn't killing me?!?  Yet then I turned the Wheel of Fortune, too, and the Ace of Cups.  My cup overflows.  What goes down will always come back up.  The wheel of time turns…

Basically, what I came awaywith from the exercise is that I'm in a transition period.  Old habits and patterns are dying.  I'm growing in new ways that aren't always comfortable.  Vicki is entirely character and relationship driven.  There is no plot, not really.  I had a suspense subplot I was going to work in, but the story doesn't need it.  It would just take away from the constant emotional battle between three people trying to find their way to a compromise that will make everyone happy.  Every day is a battle:  emotion, need, denial, love, fear.  No wonder I'm exhausted.

But NaNoWriMo doesn't pause for emotional trauma.  It's not a month I can spend weeks trying to get through an especially emotional sex scene.  So I'm probably going to do the multiple project attack.  I have two novellas (20K, 30K) and a post-apocalyptic (targeting around 60K for first draft) in the hopper too, with various amounts of worldbuilding and plotting done.  I'm spending this week to get as much plotting completed on any and all projects while I chip away at Vicki.

Surely between 4 projects I can find 50K.

Review and a Contest

If you'd like to win a free copy of Hurt Me So Good, stop by The Romance Reviews and enter here.  They've also reviewed both Connagher books (my author page links to them).

Stacey at Paranormal Romantics gave 4 Stars to The Bloodgate Guardian:

All in all, this story has a very Da Vinci Code feel too it―in regards to the legends and solving the mystery. It brings together a tormented soul, a very brilliant woman, danger, Mayan legends, and romance. Add all this into wonderful writing, I'd say it's a hit―a perfect book to curl up with on a cold fall night.

Thank you so much, Stacey!

Review: Hurt Me So Good

Pearl was kind enough to read Hurt Me So Good in its early stages and has now written a lovely review:

The way Joely Sue Burkhart describes the feelings and the dynamics, the hunger and need, is mesmerizing. The way she describes insecurity, vulnerability and pain is simply out of this world. I have no words to do it justice with a description. I had the pleasure and honor of proofreading HURT ME SO GOOD many months ago and was utterly impressed with the way Joely Sue Burkhart wanted to bring Victor's story to her readers. Now having read it with a reviewer's eye I can only be even more impressed. From the first to the last word she reeled me in with a poignant and emotional story within the realm of D/s that is a more than worthy successor of DEAR SIR I'M YOURS!

Thank you, Joely Sue, for another great installment of the Connaghers, a family that has found a firm place in my reader's heart and on my (digital) shelves. I can't wait to see what Vicki will bring to the table.

Thank you so much, Pearl!  I've never written a m/m book, but for Leon and Brandon…. hmmm.  Maybe.    You and Sherri's great minds are thinking alike.

Reviews from The Romance Reviews

MichelleR has written several wonderful reviews on The Romance Reviews site.  First up, for Dear Sir, I'm Yours:

Holy guacamole ladies and gents, I have another winner! Seriously, if you are a fan of masterfully written characters, smokin' hot sex, tender romantic men and strong independent women you really need to check out Dear Sir, I'm Yours by Joely Sue Burkhart.

With tender moments that brought tears to my eyes, hysterical moments that had me gripping my sides, and Oh My Gawd moments that had me searching for a hand fan, I was up well into the night unwilling to put this amazing read down. The story was fast-paced, engaging, complex and well-rounded. Joely Sue Burkhart was a new author to me. She has talent in spades and I just can't wait to check out more of her books.

And for Victor in Hurt Me So Good:

 I can take a whole lot of hawt in my stories. Bring on the meneges, tie-em-up, and go places only the most wicked have gone before, but the idea of sadomasochism wasn't revin' my good-read engine at all. Quite the opposite. I found myself way outside my comfort zone.

That is, until Victor and Shiloh stole my heart.

Hats off to Ms. Burkhart as she has once again proven herself a master of developing complex, likeable characters in a world most view as unpalatable.

Thank you so much, Michelle!

V's Winner

Thank you so much for entering V's Giveaway!  The monsters helped me pick a winner for the charm bracelet:

#14:  Erin Kendall!

Erin, please e-mail me your snail mail addy and desired charms (the bracelet includes two) to joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com.  If I don't hear from you in two days, I'll pick a new winner. 

The winner of the free book is:

#2:  Lucy!

Please e-mail me the name of the book you'd like from my backlist including your desired format (e.g. pdf, epub). 

Thank you, everyone!  I have several reviews to post shortly.

Review and Another Chance to Win!

Fern at Whipped Creme Erotic Romance Reviews gives 4/5 to Hurt Me So Good:

After enjoying Dear Sir, I'm Yours by author Joely Sue Burkhart, I was extremely excited to get my hands on the second installment, Hurt Me So Good. Although vastly different from the first, I found similar elements and themes present and, of course, the writing was wonderful.  Ms. Burkhart pens memorable stories with tortured characters that are impossible to forget.

Also, Nicole donated a copy of HMSG to Stumbling Over Chaos, so stop by and comment to win!

Thank you so much, Fern and Nicole!

P.S. You still have time to enter the Pride & Prejudice book handbag and charm bracelet giveaways.

Review: The Bloodgate Guardian

Nancy reviews THE BLOODGATE GUARDIAN at My Odd Little World:

This has an edge of your seat tension, and you spend much of the book holding your breath. The secondary characters are mostly demons and are unbelievably evil, but she uses her imagination to bring these beings to chilling reality. Yes, the loves scenes are few in number, but Ms. Burkhart uses her words to best advantage, with passion and touching emotions.

Thank you so much, Nancy!

Don't forget the Break 20 Giveaway, as well as the two giveaways celebrating HURT ME SO GOOD's release.

Another Cool Giveaway

My apologies to Kindle owners for the delay in the Amazon release of Hurt Me So Good, but the problem is resolved and Victor's available!  To celebrate and get some momentum building on Amazon, I decided to offer another prize.  Lo and behold, Spoonfulofchocolate had perfect timing.  I saw this Pride and Prejudice book handbag and fell in love.  I bought my own Pride and Prejudice bag a year or so ago and I totally love it.

To enter, simply rate HMSG on Amazon or Barnes & Noble by Oct. 31st.  I'll drop everyone's name in the hat and pull one winner to be announced here on Nov. 1st.  The winner will have two days to get in touch with me and arrange for shipping, and if I don't hear from him/her, I'll pull another name.  I'll ship worldwide and you can enter even if you've won something from me before.

Reviewers, if you would like to enter and don't yet have HMSG, please drop me an e-mail at joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com and I'll hook you up.

Don't forget, you can also win free books and more on Victor's giveaway, Among the Muses, and The Geeky Bookworm.

Review: Hurt Me So Good

Mrs. Giggles reviews Victor and gives HMSG 83!

While I'm no expert on BDSM and therefore I cannot say for certain how accurate the author has been in the depiction of that lifestyle in this story, she manages to sell me the fantasy in a most believable and very intriguing manner. The psychology behind the use of the riding crop is fascinating, and the love scenes are erotic. The author also gets bonus points for a rather dignified treatment of the hero's ex-sub without degrading her into merely another notch in the hero's bedpost. The hero has control issues when it comes to being a Dom, and I have to admit I raised an eyebrow at that scene where he pleasured himself while whacking his thighs with the riding crop. But Ms Burkhart sells the whole deal to me nicely despite my unfamiliarity with the BDSM scene.

She does have concerns about the reality TV aspect, about whether insiders receiving the prizes is illegal or not.  There is no "million dollar prize" offered to the winner of ANTs — only the Master's collar, if he chooses to give it.   It's not a true reality show, but more of a parody of a reality show.  Too bad that part bothered her, but overall, she enjoyed the rest of the story, so yay!

Thank you, Mrs. Giggles!

Friday Roundup And A Winner

I decided not to wait until next week to give away a download of HMSG (although I'll do another next week to make it fair to anyone who hasn't entered yet).  The winner of an electronic copy:

14. Erin Kendall

Erin, please e-mail me with your desired format!

Also, don't forget to enter the contest at Among the Muses for more free books including a print copy of DSIY, and another chance to win HMSG at The Geeky Bookworm.

Thank you to everyone helping Victor hit #2 on the Samhain Top Ten Best Sellers List!