Renee Field's Blog, page 4

Celebrating 10th Ellora's Cave release - 10 e-books and $10 Amazon gift card up for grabs

Kissed is my latest erotic paranormal romance published with Ellora’s Cave (EC). I can’t believe I now have 10 stories out with EC. That’s so amazing and to celebrate I’m giving away a complete box set of all my EC books as e-books plus a $10 Amazon gift card for THREE lucky winners. All you have to do to win is tell me a bit about your favorite place. Please leave your email in your comment. Winner will be randomly picked on my birthday – Saturday, May 26, 2012! Let's celebrate together.
Inverness Beach, Cape Breton, NSToday, I’m telling you about one of my loves. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. My love of Cape Breton began when I was a child and my father spent a few weeks each summer diving off its coast for sunken treasures. I spent my days walking the beaches but the minute he came to shore I dove into his net to find those treasurers. Old Spanish coins, precious jewels, small vials that held who knows what and old wine bottles seeped into my memory of Cape Breton. When not scourging the beaches I took to the hills with my mother to pick wild blueberries. Those hills which seemed like mountains to me I never forgot. There was a peace in those hills; a history of old houses built hundreds of years ago which the forest reclaimed and I loved to explore it all. Cape Breton beaches like Inverness and the hills and landscape of Cape Smokey, the trails along the cliffs of the Keltic Lodge, all those things became a part of me and I wanted to showcase some of the mysticism in my latest book. Kissed showcases the lure of the land. Keltic Lodge & Resort, Cape Breton, NS
Cape Smokey, Cape Breton, NSKissed also showcases the Druid and Fey belief and trust me people in Cape Breton are very superstitious. I loved how when I was a child, we’d go visiting people in Cape Breton and with Cape Breton hospitality we’d find ourselves staying first for tea and biscuits and then of course for supper. It’s considered rude to refuse an invite for supper, so we often found ourselves enjoying homemade clam chowder, or a boiled dinner with people who might have started out as brief acquaintances to only become fast friends. 

Kissed - a story of fey heart

http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/index.php?hop


So excited to see my latest Ellora's Cave book debuting this week. Kissed is the first book in a series I've called Fairy Curses and it's set in the Highlands of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I wrote this book with multiple POV and I created the world of the fey with a mix of beauty and evil. What I wanted to focus on was a hero beaten down by a strong matriarch but who discovers he needs a woman to fill his heart. Tara is my hometown, country girl who thinks she's plain and ordinary. It takes one kiss from a stranger to change her life and destiny. Kissed is a sexy read and I hope you all enjoy.
To celebrate Kissed and as part of the Erotic Madness Hop I'll also be giving away an e-copy of Kissed to one lucky person. Leave a comment with your name and email and you could be that lucky person.
Kissed by Renee Field
“I know you.” His gravelly, hard-edged voice left her wanting to rub a finger over his lips. She felt his warm, large hands span her waist to help keep her standing upright as she bent to dislodge her stuck boot. The feel of his hands on her waist through the puffy confines of the feather-down jacket caused her body to hum all over. Not good, not good at all. Why couldn’t I have stumbled on an old man? Nope, I stumble across one drop-dead gorgeous hunk. Too bad he stinks to high heaven. Then again, that’s probably not a bad thing because I don’t know this man…a warning I should heed. She laughed this time. “I don’t think so. We’ve never been introduced. Trust me, I’d remember.” Boot unstuck, she slipped it back onto her cold foot. “You speak my language.” Instinctively she stilled, frozen to the spot. He spoke her grandmother’s secret language. The lilt of his words flowed like a sensual stream off his tongue, evoking a sharp intake of breath on her behalf. A flash of a tall, angry, imposing man jumped into her mind. A thought that she should have run when she had the chance caused her heart to accelerate. But none of that mattered. She was nicely caught, held by tempting hands whose thumbs were stroking her jacket, distracting her earlier thoughts. “A bit,” she answered back in English. “Well, well, well, my night just got better.” He crushed her body up close and personal to his muscular frame and lowered his lips to her mouth before she could protest. She knew then she should scream. Instead her mind digested the taste of rum and something wild and exotic like the combined taste of cinnamon and cardamom. A part unknown within her urged her to yield to it. She fought with herself not to bend her body to his large, hard frame. Luckily all she could smell was skunk. But even that didn’t matter as much anymore. What was happening to her had never happened before. Sure, she’d been kissed a few times, but not like this. Not by a man who knew what it meant to be a lover. Not by a man whose lips were molding her own to his, demanding she comply, willing her to open to her own passion. His tongue stroked her own, dancing and dueling with hers, forcing her mouth to yield to his skill. A skill that should have shocked her. Instead, she welcomed it, tilting her head, adjusting her stance without thought to accommodate his desires. Tasting, taking…feeling the rush of sexual power that fueled their mingled breaths. His powerful hands roamed up and under her coat to clutch her back. The heat of his flesh scorched her, fueling a rush of warmth below, causing her to want to rub her legs around his thighs. She whimpered, lust and need swamped her senses, making her dizzy. “Ahh, that’s what I thought. There’s more of my kind in you than you know.” His tone was quiet and mocking. Abruptly, he backed away. Tara shivered from his absence as the cold wind of the night brought common sense back to her.
Purchase link: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-10066-ki...www.jasminejade.com/p-10066-kissed.aspx

Erotic Romance Madness Hop - Contest - Claiming Poseidon's Heart

http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/index.php?hop
So excited to be involved in the Erotic Romance Madness Hop. I'm showcasing my latest erotic paranormal novella called Claiming Poseidon's Heart . I love to write paranormal and adding hot sex scenes, especially when dealing with a god, are so much fun to create.

Drop me a line and I'm giving away an e-copy of Claiming Poseidon's Heart and A Siren's Wish and a $20 Amazon gift card. Both erotic novellas feature my love of Sirens, the sea and the gods and sea witches who rule them. The contest runs from May 10- 14, 2012. One winner will be randomly picked.

To share, I thought I'd include an erotic excerpt of Claiming Poseidon's Heart:


Soki’s hands had a will of their own. One slid through his tawny hair. His hair sifted through her fingers like silk. Her other hand dipped lower to touch his back muscles. They bunched under her probing fingers.His trail of kisses moved leisurely up her neck. They began to drive her mad. She wanted his lips on hers again. Groaning, she tugged at his head. He laughed, his breath teasing her sensitive flesh.“Soki, I need to cherish you. Feel you. All of you. You are like nothing I ever imagined.”His hands once again took hold of her face. She liked that about him. He took command of her. Soki thought she wouldn’t like that aspect—wrong. So much of her life she controlled but not him. His eager passion, the way he touched her, ignited a fierce fire within the pit of Soki’s stomach. A tangible ache formed between her legs. Her nipples became nubs as hard as stone…sensitive to the merest thing, like the feel of his naked chest now on top of her.“May I?”She nodded, desperate to get out of her shirt. With an almost suicidal ache she needed to feel him skin to skin. She moved her arms up. Swiftly he yanked off her shirt. Modesty hit her instantly.  “Beautiful,” he said, a second before he started to nuzzle her breasts. Soki knew her breasts weren’t much. They were a perfect B cup, average, almost unnoticeable when she wore a wetsuit. Nate flicked a tongue over her nipple. Soki hissed, the sheer pleasure of it blinding in its intensity. Her other lovers had assumed since her breasts were small her nipples wouldn’t count. Thank god, Nate thought the opposite.“I love your breasts. They are perfectly shaped but these nipples of yours are amazing. I want to lick them all day.”Oh the things the man said. Who knew? Soki never thought she’d like erotic foreplay but the answering liquid of desire sliding out of her pussy made her a liar. Desperate to feel him, she moved a hand down his muscled arm. He grasped her arm to position it above her head. He claimed the other arm and positioned it to his liking. She laughed. “You are planning to let me touch you?”“Oh, baby, that I am, but I have to taste you, feel you, get your scent all over me and only then will I let you explore me. Your touch sets my skin on fire.”
Purchase link:  http://amzn.com/B007U93O84

Erotic Romance Madness Hop - Starts May 10-14

So excited. I'm going to participate in an Erotic Romance Madness Hop! The date is drawing close- May 10-14 and lots of authors are participating which of course means lots of prizes to be one.
http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/index.php?hop

Prisoner of Tehran amazing play in Toronto

Last night hubby and I as part of our vacation to Toronto went tosee a play. We picked Prisoner of Tehran,which was adapted from Marina Nemat’s book into a play by Maja Ardal. The playwas at Theatre Passe Muraille, which wasn’t that far from our downtown hotel.We didn’t know what to expect and we were both blown away. Now I know my booksand my blog are usually about romance or writing but I had to change it uptoday to honor Marina Nemat’s journey and the three amazing actors who performedsuch an odyssey of a journey with this play.Razi Shawahdeh played all the male roles. Unbelievable. I cringedwhen he took on the jailer who fell in love with Marina and how he was able toflip from one character who was all innocent to another so volatile—well I’mbetting he was exhausted by the end of the play.Bahareh Yaraghi played Marina and she moved me with how she triedto be just your average teenager in the 1980s when the Ayatollah Khomeinireplaced Shah Mohammad Reza. Independence, is something most us of westernstake for granted but within weeks of the new regime life for women moved to thedark ages.I have to say that Mirian Katrib who played all the other femaleroles, I lost count of how many that was, was the star in this production.Mirian moved effortlessly from one character who could be a young teenpretending to skip rope to an old woman dictating the new Muslim laws. I wasspellbound watching Mirian and all three of these virtuosos actors. Thank youso much for such a wonderful special night out on the town in Toronto. If youhave not seen this play do so. It’s playing until April 28th.
If you haven’t read Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nematthan get it today at http://amzn.com/B00480OBU8.

My Indie journey - 3rd book up

I’m so excited to launch Claiming Poseidon’s Heart, but not for the reasons you might expect. What thrills me is that this will be my third Indie publication. When I started this journey of self-publishing I was apprehensive about all the what if’s that face many authors.



The first book I launched was one that I received the rights back to—Rapture. After the learning curve of publishing Rapture, I discovered this wonderful Indie world of authors who help each other. It’s been such a wonderful experience I feel as if I’ve entered into a writers’ co-operative. We share marketing tips, ask basic questions, share information on good editors, graphic designers and much more. Looking back I find it hard to fathom that it was only four months ago that I took the Indie plunge. Honestly, it’s been such a great experience, I love it. One of the big things for me is taking the mystery out of publishing. I always wondered how the big 6 publishers did it and now I know.



Here’s what the big 6 publishers do – find a good story, hire a cover artist, hire an editor and even a line editor, purchase ISBN, foster relationships with booksellers to urge them to showcase their authors



Here’s what I did – wrote a good story, hired a cover artists, hired an editor, for free Canadians can secure ISBNS, fostering and building my relationships with my audience—readers and other Indie authors.



The mystery has been solved. Indie publishing is doable. Indie publishing let’s you set the pace of your writing schedule. Indie publishing can be an uplifting experience.
I hope you enjoyed my Indie journey and in celebration of my third Indie publication on Amazon I’ve launched a contest.



Contest to celebrate launch of Claiming Poseidon’s Heart
$25 Amazon gift card plus e-copies of all my Indie publications: Rapture, A Siren’s Christmas Wish, and my latest Claiming Poseidon’s Heart. The contest runs from April 15, 2012 until April 24, 2012. One lucky winner will be randomly picked.



Email me at: renee@reneefield.com



And answer these 2 questions with yes or no:
Do you read Indie books?
Are you an Indie author?

Reclaiming that Book you Wrote & Loved

I wrote my first paranormal romance book about four years ago. I have no idea where the time went. Rapture, was the first novel in a six book mermaid/Siren series I mapped out. I loved writing Rapture. I poured my heart and soul and my love of the sea into this book. I was lucky that book secured me an agent (okay, I fired my agent after this) but the book also got me a publisher, Cerridwen Press (CP). I didn't know a whole lot about CP but I had heard of Ellora's Cave which was their sister company and a much bigger erotic e-publisher. Now, my book Rapture is not erotic. I would classify it as highly sensual. So excited newbie author I signed a contract with CP and that awoke my own passion to write more erotic stories for Ellora's Cave.

Fast-forward two years later. My sales at EC were climbing but my book Rapture was not doing well at CP. Why? I always felt a key part of what happened was that my books from EC did not link to my CP profile page so it was hard for readers to discover my sensual writings. This book was my baby. I wanted it back. What did I do? I waited for CP to close and they did and EC gave authors the option of getting our rights back to our books or merging into their new line. I got my rights back and thought what now? I couldn't very well send it off to another publisher because it had already been published, so I thought I'm going to try the Indie route. At this point I had nothing to lose.



I knew in my heart that Rapture was a good solid story. It won an EPPIE in 2008 for Best Fantasy/Paranormal Romance and all the reviewers who had read it ranked it 5-stars. Last year I hired a cover artist who did an amazing job on the redesign of the cover and this month I launched Rapture as an Indie publication on Smashwords and Amazon.com. I know building my market for this is going to be a slow climb but I'm approaching this like any new mother setting her child off into the world—one day at a time. Today I'm off to set it up on All Romance E-books (http://www.allromanceebooks.com) and I'm off to Createspace to upload it as a print book. I figure the more markets I can get Rapture into the better exposure overall for my books in general.



What has this also inspired? Well, book two Bliss is already 86,000 words written so I'm planning to finish that book within a few months so I can launch that. In the meantime, I've got a few more short erotic novellas centered on Titans and Sirens that I also plan to launch. And, HQN Spice Briefs in October 2012 will be launching Claiming Poseidon's Daughter, which is a spicy, contemporary paranormal novella. Overall, I'm feeling excited that I'm back in the driver seat and helping my baby, Rapture see the world.



Rapture – modern mermaid tale with a twist
http://amzn.com/B0068OWVZE
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...

Jockey and Jewels by Bev Pettersen - A Book U Can't Put Down

Jaw dropping, oh my god amazingly a great read. Honestly, I did not want Bev Pettersen's book Jockeys and Jewels to end. If you don't love horses and know anything about them you will come to love them by the end of this story. I confess to being an avid horse lover and one thing that stood out for me if how obvious it is that Pettersen knows her way around horses, barns, tracks and the horse industry.

The reader is introduced from the get go to Kurt MacKinnon, who is smart, wary and a harden cop—he's basically seen all the bad in the world but what totally grabbed me was how Pettersen makes you come to love this undercover guy. We learn more about his character through the treatment of his horses and that weaves its own magic in the story. Julie West is a struggling apprentice jockey and longs to be taken serious in a field dominated by men. When Kurt's ex-partner gets killed this sets Kurt and Julie on a collision course. Let's just say sparks fly once they meet.

The character development in this book was a real page turner. I loved the sexual tension which came off as totally real between Kurt and Julie and I hated the bad guy, Otto, who I was supposed to hate. I kept waiting for a horse to kick him where it counts.

The mystery layered in this book kept me turning pages because I too wanted to find out why Kurt's friend got killed. I'm not going to spoil the book for readers because this mystery is unique with a fresh perspective on smuggling and I loved it. Set in Canada that grabbed me and I can't wait to get my hands on Pettersen's other book Color of My Horse. I loved that this is an Indie publication but honestly have no idea why a BIG publishing house didn't swoop this book up. Pettersen is a three time Rita finalist – no easy feat – and anyone who read the first three chapters of this book had to be hooked! My gut feeling is those publishing houses that said no are crying now. Can't wait to read more of Pettersen's work.

Bev Pettersen
www.BevPettersen.com
Jockey and Jewels
http://www.amazon.com/Jockeys-and-Jew...
"Color My Horse"
http://amzn.com/B005HFZZN0

Two HQN Authors Stole My Heart - Donna Alward & Sarah Mayberry

In a week I've read two HQN's books that I have truly connected with me. First I had the pleasure of reading Sarah Mayberry's The Best Laid Plans and Donna Alward's How a Cowboy Stole Her Heart. To say I loved both would be an understatement.Sarah Mayberry's The Best Laid Plans is a contemporary story with a twist. You have the successful woman lawyer, Alexander Knight, and I will admit all women secretly what to hate these women who seem to juggle it all, but Alex isn't juggling things well at all. Introduce sexy co-worker Ethan Stone and immediately you think sparks are going to fly off the page. They don't. Oh, don't get me wrong they certainly do later on but that's the buildup, or should I say foreplay that was so real in this book. Alex's dilemma is her biological clock is ticking loudly and she desperately wants a baby, which is the last thing Ethan wants, or is it? They work well together and are great friends but can these two educated overachievers get over themselves to get what they both really want – yes! I loved the emotional play with this story and felt like I wanted to kill both Alex and Ethan at one point for trying to best plot out how to conceive with the use of medical intervention. Bless you Mayberry for allowing the characters to find themselves and their own weaknesses so they could come together and go at baby-making the old fashion way. This truly was a page turner and I read it in two sittings. Sarah Mayberry books can be found at http://www.sarahmayberry.com.Donna Alward's How A Cowboy Stole Her Heart captured me from page one. Talk about building strong characters. I immediately loved Megan Briggs, who is a strong willed woman who has suffered her share of medical problems including breast cancer. Now, I know what you're thinking here—how can a romance about a breast cancer survivor be sexy? Well, read this book because not only does Alward touch on the physical limitations Megan has to overcome like rediscovering her own body but she has to allow herself to love. Clay Gregory doesn't want to deal with death, especially the word "cancer" which took his father's life and caused his mother to abandoned him, but he quickly discovers he can't live without Megan. They start out as friends and I think that's why I connected with this book. The characters were believable, honest about their wants and desires and fears, and they still struggled to believe in each other. I read this book in one night and couldn't put it down! By the end I felt like Megan was my friend and Clay was the brother I wanted to throttle. LOL Check out her website at: http://www.donnaalward.com for more on Alward and her books.

HQN Contract and Honesty What I've Earned To-date

Hi all:
I'm very excited about my new contract with HQN Spice for Claiming Poseidon's Daughter , which is planned for 2012 release. This is an erotic paranormal story and the sequel is one I will be launching on my own. You might ask why? Well, partly why not. One thing I've learned in this business of writing is that honesty helps. I've been published with Ellora's Cave and their sister company, Cerridwen Press (which is no no longer) and it's been a great learning experience about the publishing business, working with editors, cover artists and publishers.

When I first started in this business I dreamed of making it big. Yes, I know we all want that but the reality is that isn't always the case. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to make thousands of dollars and as the years have gone by in the e-pub world and as the market has shifted so much to on-line publishing format it's led me to questioning why not try self-publishing on my own.

My overall fear, like many authors is getting lost in the crush of books out there. So, what does that mean when I launch the sequel to Claiming Poseidon's Daughter (called Claiming Poseidon's Heart) on my own, it means I will have to market myself, which is something the world of e-pub taught me. I am currently lining up guest blogging spots for 2012, writing articles etc and thinking about advertising. Ellora's Cave has been great and I certainly plan more stories for them but like many authors I felt it was time to branch out to another publisher to broaden my market,which in turn will hopefully mean more EC sales on the other end. So to keep with my honesty - here is the breakdown of what I've earned to date from Ellora's Cave/Cerridwen Press.