Catherine Bybee's Blog, page 33

Simon, Simon, Simon

For my time travel readers out there, I know you'll know who I'm talking about. As some of you know, I'm about 3/4 of the way through writing Simon McAllister's story - That would be book 4 in my time travel series. He's a tough one, I tell ya. Unlike the other three books, which really worked as a trilogy, this book has an entirely new 'bad guy' and a whole new set of characters that my readers will get to know. Don't worry, I can't leave the MacCoinnich's in the dust. I love 'em all too much for that.
However, Highland Shifter, the title of Simon's story, will be worth the wait. I want the next three books in this series to stand alone but connect enough so that those of you who love series romance will pine for the next book. Nothing tickles me more than to have readers send me an email, or comment on my blog, facebook, or twitter to let me know they look forward to more from these characters.
The challenge of this story for me is removing the image I once had of Simon... ie, the picture I added to the top of this blog, and growing him up to be a hero fit for a romance novel. Same thing with Amber, to the right - and Cian ie, picture at the bottom of the post. ~ They were kids in the last book. Now they're adults. They all have a story to tell.
There will be some surprises in this story, some familiar faces from the past and the present. Most of all, you'll be able to fall in love with every page.
Happy weekend, everyone!

Lauri gets "The Call"

Yes, THE CALL - Every author out there knows what THE CALL is... it's that one phone call you wish for, hope for, barter for, from the first moment you send your manuscript to a publisher to read.
Lauri Robinson is a very talented author I've had the pleasure of getting to know through author channels and she has agreed to come onto my blog and share her 'Call' story with us. Lauri is now part of a huge romance family... one of the first... Harlequin.
Take it away, Lauri.

Hey, Catherine, I love reading your blog and am so honored to be here today.

Everything in life begins with a dream, a single, perhaps fleeting, thought that builds and builds. For me that dream was becoming a Harlequin Author. I've always loved their books, (I blame that on my dear mother, her bookshelves were full of Harlequin books) and over the years, used them as a stress relief. At the end of the day (or the middle of it sometimes) I could forget about all my 'to do' lists and immerse myself in once upon a time and happily ever after. Soon I was imagining myself writing for them, and started penning stories. After many years of re-writes and rejections, I had a book published, then another, and though I love writing for other presses, my dream remained to write one for Harlequin.
When Harlequin announced their Undone line, (short, sensual, historical stories) several writer friends and I decided we should each write one and sub it to them. I was so shocked, honored, and disappointed when almost a year after I subbed my story, I received an email from HQN saying they were interested in my story. The problem was, since I hadn't heard from them, I'd assumed they weren't interested and sold it to another publisher. HQN asked if I would write another and sub it. Of course I said yes, and eventually sold that story to them, and over the course of the next year sold them four more Undone's. Yes, it was awesome, exciting, I was finally writing for HQN, yet, my dream was a full-length book.

In June of this year, hubby and I had just returned from a 'ten states in ten days' road trip, and I slept in one morning. When I rolled out of bed and stumbled to the coffee pot, I picked my cell phone off the counter to thumb through emails. To my surprise, there was an email from HQN, asking if they could call at 3:00 pm UK time, that's 9:00 am my time, and it was then 8:45! I quickly sent an email from my cell, telling them that would be fine, and barely had time to brush my teeth before the phone rang.

With my coffee cup in hand, I sat on my front deck and accepted their offer for both a full length story and a shorter story for their Christmas anthology. The stories are western historicals and will be released in 2012. Tentative titles (title changes are very common) are Unclaimed Bride and One Wish.

Okay, so long story about my dream, what about yours, right? Well, I'm telling you all this to assure you dreams to come true. If you've subbed a story to your dream publisher, just hold on a bit longer, you will hear from them. If it's not what they want, don't give up, try again. THE CALL will be worth all the time, efforts, and waiting!
Ultimately, if you believe in yourself, others will, too.
Cheers,

Lauri

Lauri Robinson's chosen genre to write is western historical. When asked why, she says, "Because I know I wasn't the only girl who wanted to grow up and marry Little Joe Cartwright." She lives in rural Minnesota where she and her husband spend every spare moment with their three grown sons and five grandchildren. Visit Lauri at www.Laurirobinson.blogspot.com or view her books by clicking HERE .

New Review for Soul Mate

Thank you Sensual Reads for the 4.5 star rating of Soul Mate!

Here is what they had to say ~

Catherine Bybee knows how to weave a tale of mystery and adventure flawlessly with a love story. The passion between Nick and Kari is undeniable, but outside forces and Kari's private life could tear them apart. Ms. Bybee makes the reader feel Kari's struggle to keep the truth from Nick. Kari is sure no one could ever love a werewolf. Can Nick convince Kari that she belongs with him?

Oh, Goodreads... why can't I?

Oh, Goodreads... why can't I ask more people to be my friend? I can accept friendships, but I can't ask. I have no idea why... If someone out there in Goodreadville knows the answer to this, can you please leave a comment so I can fix this glitch?

I like friends... They give me warm and fuzzy feelings inside!

Facebook and Fan Page

The other day I was yakking with someone on Facebook about fan pages, and I thought... what a great topic for a blog.

About six months ago I heard an author moaning about how facebook cuts you off at 5000 friends. I've no idea why they do this, but they do. As an author, I want to keep in touch with other authors, my readers... but my fan page simply doesn't get that much traffic. Probably because I update my personal Catherine Bybee page more. I tend to keep my fan page more for 'News about me...'

So, why the blog? Well, I thought I'd give a heads up to authors, such as myself, who are working the social network and suggest that they not wait to start a fan page. And when people friend them, go ahead and direct them to their fan page. That way, when the day comes when 5000 people have friended them, they aren't stuck in a position where they can't direct traffic as easily. For every ten friend requests, I end up with about five fan follows/likes.

In the interest of this blog, at the bottom of this page is a Like button for my fan page on Facebook. Go ahead... click it. You know you want to.

Oh, and... blogger - BTW Facebook is a word and is spelled correctly and friended is a word now too. Update your spell check!

Thanks to everyone who played...

Jennifer won the drawing and picked a copy of Possessive to read. I hope you enjoy it, Jennifer.

Thanks again everyone who stopped by.

Happy Labor Day

Time for a FREE book!

Hello Fall... Ya, for those of you looking forward to Labor Day weekend this is a bit premature, but what the heck. My kids are back in school (and all the world said, Amen!) - And my Facebook Fan Page has reached 801 fans. Because of that, it's time to give away one free download to a lucky winner.

"But, Catherine, I have all of your books."

Don't worry, Debbie Doubter, I plan on launching Wife by Wednesday in early October and if you have my complete back list then I'll be happy to send you a PDF of Wife by Wednesday when it's out.

"Awesome, Catherine, what do I do?"

So, glad you asked, Debbie... Pay attention now... this is gonna be hard.

I'm working on building my Twitter @catherinebybee and Facebook Fan Page - So all you have to do is follow me on twitter and facebook and then leave a comment on this blog.  Then you'll be entered into a drawing for a free download. This will put your name in the drawing Three Times.

Now, you want your chances to double? Well, I'm going to tweet about this giveaway using the hash tag of
#BybeeBooks - If you retweet one of my tweets I'll put your name into the again for your retweet.

Confused yet?

Here is the short list

Follow me on Twitter - @catherinebybee
Join my Facebook Fan page - Click HERE and LIKE ME
Retweet any #BybeeBooks @catherinebybee
Then leave a quick comment here so I know you're in.

This will go on through Saturday September 3rd.

So go forth and follow and tweet -

Here is a back list for you to consider:

Erotic
(Voted LASR Book of the Week) Kilt Worthy
Kilt-A-Licious

Amazon Best Selling Time Travel Trilogy
Binding Vows
(Award Winning ) Silent Vows
Redeeming Vows

Ritter Werewolf Series
Before the Moon Rises
Embracing the Wolf

Short Ghost Story
Possessive

Werewolf Novella
(NEW Re-Release) Soul Mate

Once Written, Twice Shy.

I have a quick interview up over at the shy writers blog today. Come on over and share some love.

http://www.shywriters.blogspot.com/

Time to share...

Well, here it is, the cover art for Wife by Wednesday. You know, the book I was asking everyones opinion about titles.

Isn't it lovely? Crystal Posey, my webmistress now cover art designer did an amazing job. I'm so lucky to have her virgin cover. LOL

Here is the blurb:

Blake Harrison:


Rich, titled, and charming… And in need of a wife by Wednesday so he turns to Sam Elliot who isn't the business man he expected. Instead, Blake is faced with Samantha Elliot, engaging and spunky with a voice men call 900 numbers to hear.


Samantha Elliot:

Owner of Alliance, her matchmaking firm, and not on the marital menu... That is until Blake offers her ten million dollars for a one-year contract. All she needs to do is keep her attraction to her husband to herself and avoid his bed. But Blake's toe-curling kisses and charm prove too difficult to combat. Now she needs to protect her heart so she can walk away when their mercenary life together is over.

Wife by Wednesday will be here in a month. Whoot!

Blogger is ticking me off!

I really don't know what the heck the problem is... I've been on Blogger now for a few years, everything seems great, the all of a sudden logging in and leaving comments on other's blogs isn't doable. I'm not hacked, my account simply won't let me leave comments. My sign in doesn't stay... etc, etc.

So, dammit... for those who know how to fix this issue please let me know. I hate to have to move over to a different blogging site, but I will if I have to. ugh