Sommer Marsden's Blog, page 66

You had me at campy...

A lovely kitten happened to review my book Long Lost and gave me a five star Recommended Read at Hotly Ever After. And as if that wasn't good enough, this caught my eye in the review:

The writing is very solid, the voice is fantastic, and it has that 90’s campy vampire feel sort of like The Lost Boys which I think is what endeared me to the story in the first place. 

You had me at campy but sealed my never ending love with The Lost Boys comparison. Fab-you-luss!

Read the full review HERE .

And yes! I am not supposed to be reading reviews, but at least once a week I break that rule and I read one (good, bad or ugly) and then I put a dollar in the jar. Hey, don't look at me that way, at the end of August the money goes to charity. Not sure which one yet, but given my inability to keep myself in check they're getting something out of me one way or the other!

XOXO
Sommer

69 is the perfect number...

Especially when you're talking about a beautiful antho like this. Behold! I am in Alison Tyler's latest Harlequin collection called 69 Sultry Short Stories of Need and Desire. Go treat your reading device to a naughty little present ;)

Check out the fabulous authors:

Countdown by Violet Blue

The Kitchen Kink by Alison Tyler
Hare Coursing by Janine Ashbless
Pulse by Vida Bailey
Speed Mating by Sophia Valenti
Permission by Justine Elyot
Star Fucker by John Albert
The Redi-Wash by Jax Baynard
Selections from a Bedroom Closet by Thomas S. Roche
Dress Rehearsal by Sommer Marsden
Good Cop, Bad Cop (a story) by Kristina Lloyd
Come at Six by Portia Da Costa
Plus One by Nikki Magennis
I Dare You by Emma Hillman
Two Ways by Dante Davidson
Manners by Georgia E. Jones
Another Country Heard From by Eric Williams
Frosted Kisses by Vida Bailey
Summoned by Raziel Moore
His by Charlotte Stein
Talk to the Hand by Allison Wonderland
Three Days by Cate Robertson
Reclamation by Willsin Rowe
Open by Donna George Storey
Frozen by Aisling Weaver
The Welcome Wagon by Sophia Valenti
Hot Cross Buns by Shanna Germain
Granny Panties by Sommer Marsden
Touchless by Alison Tyler
Cast Party by Jeremy Edwards
Fall Back by N.T. Morley
Love, Honor and Obey by Janine Ashbless
Permissive by Justine Elyot
Hot in the City by Saskia Walker
Add It Up by Nikki Magennis
Crossed by Dante Davidson
The Funeral by Georgia E. Jones
Floating in Blue by Teresa Noelle Roberts
Suite Surprise by Cate Robertson
Shoulders by Donna George Storey
Saturday by Willsin Rowe
Based on a True Story by Kristina Lloyd
The Barest Offering by Aisling Weaver
Hers by Charlotte Stein
Translation by Sommer Marsden
Dessert by Sophia Valenti
Skill by Aisling Weaver
Attic Moment by Janine Ashbless
Satisfied Customers by Ashley Lister
Closing Distance by Raziel Moore
Friends in Need by Saskia Walker
Homecoming by Willsin Rowe
The Long Afternoon by N.T. Morley
Naked Lunch by Angell Brooks
Just a Kiss Away by Thomas S. Roche
Goes by Sommer Marsden
Waking the Neighbors by Heidi Champa
Ours by Charlotte Stein
Mathematics by Nikki Magennis
Laplanders by Jeremy Edwards
Slave Market in Monochrome by Kristina Lloyd
In the Cold with You by Victoria Janssen
Listen by Emma Hillman
Come at Nine by Portia Da Costa
The Eskimo Game by Donna George Storey
Reflection by Saskia Walker
Permitted by Justine Elyot
Never Alone by Alison Tyler
Every Dollar by N.T. Morley
A is for Anal, Z is for Zenith by Shanna Germain
How Early? By Thomas Roche

Greedy Greedy Greedy (Extension of Deadline)

EXTENSION OF DEADLINE NOTICE: :) 

I have a goodly amount of zombie stories, but could still do with a few more. Because I'm greedy that way. Lots of folks have said they were working on a story but missed the deadline. So...keep working. You have until AUGUST 31ST now to get me your zombie stories. Remember~ zombies are required, sex (from sweet to smoking) is required, but zombie sex is NOT required! Go forth and bring me your story of the undead. Any questions, feel free to ask!

http://www.eroticanthology.com/zombie... for the full call (warning date might be listed as original date July 31...no worries. It's Aug 31 now!)

XOXO
Sommer

A hefty and a freebie...

Yay! look at all the angles, baby! Guess what came yesterday? Did you guess the awesome, quite hefty, compilation of my Zombie Exterminators from Resplendence Publishing? You did? You. Are. A. Genius! I must say, it's my weightiest book--beat only by Wanderlust, which might not even be true. I'll have to use my new scale to weigh them ;) The exciting part is the book contains We Kill Dead Things, No Guilt and Lunatic Fringe all in one volume. One stop shopping with a smoking good cover.Just holding it makes me want to get cracking on #4 and ironically, I had a pretty good idea for that book the other day.

Now on to the freebie...
Right now, as we speak, right. This. Moment (gasp): The Highest Bidder, my second novella in the Secret Library is availalble on Kindle for free! Don't have a Kindle? Amazon offers Kindle for PC, you just follow the directions and boom, book on your 'puter. Awesome.

Get it for free in the US:
http://www.amazon.com/Highest-Bidder-...
Get it for free in the UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Highest-Bidde...

If you like it, please take a second to click LIKE, tag it if you are into that kind of thing, and even drop me a review. It would be much appreciated by yours truly. The girl who thinks she might need more coffee. All these exclamation points have tuckered me out. Have a lovely day!

XOXO
Sommer

to the letter...

That's how you should follow guidelines. True story. If you want to have the best possible shot of getting your work accepted you should follow the guidelines to the T. But everyone knows that right? (Well, you'd be surprised. Just read THIS ). I'm going to take it one stop further and say, "Always include a cover letter."

This little bit of wisdom (pardon me while I choke on that word related to self, but hey, it's the only word I can think of) comes from the fact that multiple times I've received submissions with absolutely NO cover letter. Not even a short two line:

"Dear Editor Person,

Attached is my story AWESOME STORY for your anthology call AWESOME ANTHOLOGY CALL.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best,
Author Type Person"

Do you know how long that just took me? Four and a half seconds. I timed myself.

Now, your typing speed might be faster or slower than mine, but my humble point is this: Take the time to be courteous and kind. If the editor chooses not to read your brief intro, then so be it. But YOU took the time to be professional and friendly and I'll say it again, courteous. Which costs you nothing and can mean everything.

You never know when you are cultivating a relationship with an editor/publisher. You never know when that one submission might lead to more. And bottom line, it's just the right thing to do. If a call says "No Cover Letter Necessary", well fine, feel free to skip it. But I say, (again humble opinion) include a brief two liner anyway. It is the human element. It is the polite element. It is just the right thing to do.

You would not walk into a job interview, toss your resume on the desk and let the resume speak for itself, right? You'd sit down and engage in a few minutes of interaction with the person you wanted to hire you. It's the same thing. Don't skip the cover letter, no matter how brief.

Because you just never know. Every submission is the door to unknown possibilities.

Humble opinion/rusty two cents endeth.

Have a great Monday!

XOXO
Sommer

Every time I think of you I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue...

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This, this, this is stuck in my head and it perfectly correlates with the book I am working on. Not the one I'm synopsizing (I am still not sure if this is a real word or just one of my favorite made up words) or the one I'm proofing. Or the ones I'm plotting. But the one I was meh--sorta writing--but now am BAM! WRITING! <~~~neon. And since I have not done follow up books to an original novel since either Big Bad or We Kill Dead Things (I'll have to check those dates) I am excited about writing a book number two that includes characters from a book number one.

Did that make sense? No? Sorry.

Anyway, not too much coffee. I had only one cup. But I did sleep late and recharge my battery, I did get fed a nice breakfast by the man, I did finally get to take his royal fatness for a walk and I did write 1,300 surprise words in the book that's got me singing New Order so...must just be in a good mood.

Speaking of a good mood, I also got a notification that Angry Sex rec'd a 4 star rating from TwoLips Reviews. Yay for that! I did not actually read the review (per my boycott on such things because I tend to find something...anything to worry about) as much as skim it, so...hope it's good. :)

XOXO
Sommer
p.s. There seems to be a big debate online about the opening line to Bizarre Love Triangle. I always thought that my blog title was the opening line. Others seem to think it's 'Every time I think of you I feel shot right through with a bow of gloom". Anyone own the album with lyrics?

Mark the date...

In red. Or pink.

Because it tickles me pink (like my new cover design) that for some odd reason one of my most beloved novels, Calendar Girl , is ranking for several days in a row now (right now 96, yesterday as high as 27!) on Amazon UK in the category:

Books > Calendars, Diaries, Annuals & More > Calendars


Heh. So if you like lots of sex, a different guy every month, humor, outrageous drag queens, dare I say it...hijinx and yes, mushed in there with all of it...a love story, Calendar Girl might just be the book for you. I say skip penciling me in, be bold, write me in pen!

Happy Saturday. I'm off to be a total lazypants and I'm okay with that.

XOXO
Sommer
Or find it on Amazon US

Do you see what I see?

Ermergherd! Zermbies! More specifically, my first three zombie exterminator books now available in a print compilation! Print zombies--stoked. Click the image and it'll take you there. :)

XOXO Sommer

I want more!

Sorry, seems I woke with Sisters of Mercy in my head and I can hear that growling croon. I could try to recreate it for you (and your ears would bleed or...), here, see for yourself:



Speaking of more, I have more! As in more good news. More good news #1 is that Open is out and about and ready for purchase. Five filthy erotic bisexual stories, yes please :) Here's who you'll find tucked inside that awesome Riendo cover.


Tenille Brown
Sommer Marsden
Alison Tyler
Sophia Valenti
Saskia Walker

And more good news #2 is I am going to be in the upcoming book Captivated from HarperCollins Mischief line. Very sexy cover yes? To paraphrase my wonderful fellow Captivated author Justine Elyot, "release is imminent!". If' I'm not mistaken the book is available for purchase on July 26th.

Authors include: Lolita Lopez, Sommer Marsden, Charlotte Stein, Valerie Grey, Elizabeth Coldwell, Kyoko Church, Heather Towne, Lisette Ashton and Aishling Morgan.


Woohoo!

XOXO
Sommer 

I've always wanted to be in pictures...

Okay, so that's a total lie. One time, when I worked a 9-5 desk job, I was asked to be in a training video. Six hours later and seven thousand takes of me either dissolving into uncontrollable laughter or worse, when they tried to shoot from behind me, the sight of my shoulders shaking with barely repressed hysteria...they gave up. I am not an 'on film' kind of girl. Or even much of a picture girl. But I do love when there are pictures to go with my dirty stories!

I've been lucky enough to have my work illustrated twice. Once for a story called Ego Restriction in Forum UK and once for a story called A Secret King in Penthouse. Now there will be illustrations inside the anthology above which includes my story Sugarshuttle Express.

Here's the scoop!

Naked Delirium
An illustrated anthology of sex in altered states.
Authors FulaniKristina WrightSommer MarsdenVanessa de SadeVelvet Tripp
Artist Giorgio Verona

Coming soon! soon! More info can be found at the Sweetmeats site .
XOXOSommer