Susan Hanniford Crowley's Blog: From Nights of Passion Blog, page 244

Make Mistakes

Where there is a will there is a way. Everything happens for a reason. The only thing in life without resolution is death. These are just a few of the sayings I’ve come across in my life quest for knowledge and experience. For many of you writers out there, these sayings are probably words you heeded or asked for during those days of writer’s block, rejections, bad reviews or simply you just made a bad decision when it came to your work. I’m probably making the life of a writer sound awful and that is certainly not the case.

Writing is passion and for most of us, sharing stories is wonderful, even if our readers feel we missed the mark in some ways. It is good to get a plethora of thoughts as it helps us grow. Even still, just like anything else, we face lots of obstacles and it helps to have knowledge on how to cope and overcome. After all, writing can be a very solitary work and as such, it helps to know others understand your plight.

So where am I going with this? This week’s blog is simply a feel good pat on The back, telling you that it’s okay to make a mistake–in case you weren’t already aware. In fact, it is usually our mistakes that help us grow the most. So next time you are eager to beat yourself up over a mistake you feel you made or a less than stellar reception on your latest masterpiece, remember the sayings above and find the bright side. Happy writing this week!

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life, Writing, Writing Topics

Captured Box Set is Available Now for Preorder! by Mandy Rosko

Yay! I’m so stoked to be a part of this, and so happy I got invited and that everything went through :) and now I have links and pictures to show everyone too. Happiness.

 

 

I love this cover so much :) I’m going to frame it and stick it up on my wall. I especially love the 3D cover that you can see on Amazon right now, because it has my name on the spine. I mean, this cover also has my name on the front, but the spine is just special for whatever reason :)

The set consists of paranormal and contemporary romances all surrounding a kidnapping theme, which is super awesome. I love kidnappings ;) Fictional ones, of course 0.o

I’m still learning about the things involved for me in this set, since I’m one of the authors with the least experience on this set and have so far had to do very little work aside from facebook and twitter posts. I’ll be sending out a newsletter soon, my first one, and even though the number of people I have on that list is small, I’m still pretty nervous for it.

I’ve been looking forward to this book going up so much that I even managed to forget that the Destiny game is coming out tonight at midnight, and that the new Outlander series is coming. That’s how excited I’ve been!

My book in this set is new, and so far hasn’t been published anywhere else. I commissioned a cover for it, and when that’s ready I’ll have to show that bad boy off too :)

Anyway, I’m looking for a couple of people to give this set an honest review, so if anyone’s interested in a free copy, email me at a_rosko@hotmail.com and let me know. I have a limited number of these since I’m fairly sure I can’t just hand them out like candy, although that would be cool, so hopefully I’ll get some takers soon :) I have these in PDF, Epub and Mobi, let me know!

Here’s the excerpts pasted below from Amazon:

NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHORS
 

CAPTURED is a steamy collection from today’s hottest authors featuring 9 sexy bad boys trying to capture your heart, every way they know how. New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Opal Carew, Cathryn Fox, Eve Langlais, T. J. Michaels, Sharon Page, S.E. Smith, and Pepper Winters, along with Teresa Morgan and Mandy Rosko bring you nine tales of sensual seduction featuring alpha male heroes determined to have their way, and willing to do anything to get it, even if that means a little seductive persuasion… 

 
We’ve included a real mix of stories, from light & funny to dark & sinister, contemporary to paranormal. Seriously, for .99 you can’t go wrong!

DEBT OF HONOR by Opal Carew

Held captive by a domineering sheikh… and made to pay for a crime she did not commit

YOURS TO TAKE by Cathryn Fox

Revenge takes on a sexy twist when a powerhouse lawyer is stripped of her control by the handsome multi-millionaire she once took down in the courtroom.

ACCIDENTAL ABDUCTION by Eve Langlais

Fall in love? Never! An alien assassin turned pirate has no use for an emotion he can’t sell, but that doesn’t stop him from falling for the human he captures.

JAGUAR’S RULE by T. J. Michaels

After an irresistible night of passion with Reya, Aaron James longs to hold her close forever. Little does he know that the tall, sleek beauty has a carnal secret–and he’s the one who needs protection.

HANDCUFFED TO THE SHEIKH by Teresa Morgan

The last thing Maxine Foss ever expected was to be handcuffed to a sexy, but crazy, guy who claims he’s an Arabian prince… and is determined to seduce her. Best. Abduction. Ever.

FAST AND MINE by Sharon Page

College student Claire gets lessons in seduction from sexy, hot street bike racer, Sawyer. But when she’s kidnapped by his psychotic sponsor to force him to race, can Sawyer save her and win her heart?

BURNS LIKE FIRE by Mandy Rosko

Jack Marilla is out for revenge for the deaths of his family, and the burn scars that cover his body. To get it, he has to hunt down the woman he used to love, the paranormal fire starter who set his house ablaze with him, and his family, locked inside of it. When he catches her, however, he faces his biggest challenge yet. To not believe her when she claims to be innocent, or fall for her seduction.

DEBT INHERITANCE by Pepper Winters

Jethro Hawk receives Nila as an inheritance present on his twenty-ninth birthday. Her life is his until she’s paid off a debt that’s centuries old. He can do what he likes with her–nothing is out of bounds–she has to obey. There are no rules. Only payments..

CHOOSING RILEY by S. E. Smith

Things take a turn for the worse when Riley St. Claire is kidnapped by aliens and forced to choose a mate. The problem is, it would have been better, and safer, for the aliens if they had left Riley back on Earth.

 
 
Cheers,
 

Mandy Rosko

Connect with me online:

Facebook

www.goodreads.com/Mandyrosko
 
Twitter: @rizzorosko
 
Mandyrosko.com
 
Newsletter: http://rizzorosko.com/contact.html

 

Filed under: contemporary romance, paranormal romance, Promotion, romance novels

Autumn Dreams Weekly Paranormal-Scope

While I am not qualified in any way to read neither stars nor planets, I am intimately linked to the paranormal in the world in many ways. So are you.

The paranormal scope is for entertainment purposes only and is not meant to guide your life by.

The week for:

Aries:

Leaves are falling.  Don’t let your hopes fall too.  Elves are partying because of the golden luck coming your way.

Taurus:

Gnomes are tidy.  Time to clear out the clutter in your life.

Gemini:

Mermaids are going out to sea for the big blow.  Don’t get caught in a storm.  Be prepared with all the necessities.

Cancer:

A vampire thinks you’re hot. Time to show off your stuff.

Leo:

Dragons love to dig and deepen their caves and decorate.  Tis the season to have fun with decor.

Virgo:

Hobbits are baking fools.  Bring some of your efforts to work and share.

Libra:

Leprechauns are checking out their gold and setting up a holiday budget to stick to.  Hint!

Scorpio:

A faery seeks a new adventure.  Time to spread your wings and check out your opportunities.

Sagittarius:

Hell hounds have been sniffing around.  Throw out or give away anything you don’t need anymore.

Capricorn:

An elf takes an interest in your efforts.  Time to make new friends and connections.

Aquarius:

Whales love to play.  Plan a vacation for sheer relaxation!

Pisces:

Werewolves are itching for some excitement.  Plan some parties with friends.  You will have an unexpected surprise.

-Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Filed under: Max Vander Meer, romance, Susan Hanniford Crowley, Vampire David Hilliard, Vampire King of New York, Vampire King of New York In Print, Vampire Maximillion Vander Meer, vampires, Weekly Paranormal-Scope

Does Twitter Help Your Marketing Strategy?

I’ve been a very bad Tweeter for most of my social media life. I signed up for Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google Plus, and Linked In years ago when I had just started writing. The only one I really ever kept up with was Facebook and not that faithfully. I focused more on my writing than on my social media presence.

This past summer I had two books release in a very short period of time: Beleaguered, the third of my medieval serial novel, and Time Enough to Love, the complete novel in print. I did big blog tours for both books, but I didn’t think there was enough publicity for them, and my budget after RWA was almost non-existent.

A writer friend of mine told me how she had thousands of followers tweeting and re-tweeting about her books, but she had to “work” at being a supportive tweeter. You had to thank people for following and re-tweeting and keep up with this religiously. I hadn’t had that much time to spend on Twitter, but it was summer, I was out of school, and I thought, “Okay. Let me experiment and see if it works for me.” This in spite of the fact that statistics seem to suggest that Facebook is a better deal to get authors’ work publicized.

So I started my Twitter Campaign. After almost 2 weeks I’ve doubled my followers and I’m getting lots of things I want re-tweeted. Has this turned into sales? I have no idea. I look at the chart KDP gives their indie authors and I might have seen a bump around the time I began my experiment, but there’s no hard and fast way to tell with certainty.

What I do know is that for just a little amount of time (I’ve been tweeting in-between classes and when I’m writing as well) my name, advertising for my books, and interesting facts about me (like my Outlander obsession) are being tweeted to thousands of people. And that simply can’t be a bad thing. I’ll keep you informed on my Twitter life and let you know if there is a definite jump in sales that can be attributed to Twitter.

What social media do you use? What works best for you?

Filed under: Craft, Jenna Jaxon

Tears for Feeling Better and Loving the Writing

I’ve been ill for three weeks and going to work each day at the day job and coming home to write a few words and collapse into bed.  I was beginning to think I would never get better.  But my medical doctor and my naturopath are wonderful beings, and finally I am recovering and feeling stronger.  I even got to babysit my granddaughter and we watched “Frozen” twice.  I was glad to see her.  I missed her very much.

It’s funny that when I’m down so are my characters in the book I’m writing.  Now that I’m feeling better, they are up to all kinds of mischief-evil, mayhem, romance, deception, loyalty, and courage. They are doing things I hadn’t expected.  Giggles.  I’ve started to laugh again.  This is the book that follows Vampire King of New York, and I’m loving every moment of the writing.

What’s the first thing you do when you recover from an illness to celebrate?  I’m taking ideas, as I’m in a mind to celebrate.

-Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowleyhttp://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Filed under: Characters, Max Vander Meer, paranormal, paranormal romance, Susan Hanniford Crowley, vampire books, Vampire King of New York, Vampire King of New York In Print, Vampire Maximillion Vander Meer, vampire movies, vampires, Writer's Life

Old Dog, New Social Media Tricks by Stacy Hoff

On the eve of my forty-fourth birthday, am I too old to learn social media? According to my twelve-year-old son, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Then again, he only cares about Instagram, so what the heck does he know? Plus, he’s already put me in the “relic” category. For instance, the other night, I was cooking dinner with the radio on to keep me company. That’s right folks – a radio. Not an iPod player. An actual, kitchen-cabinet, under-mount, radio. I make no apologies. I was also unapologetic for the bad dancing I was doing as I threw pasta into the pot. I couldn’t help it – the song I was listening to was too hip, too awesome for my exuberance to be constrained.

“My God, Ma, can’t you turn off the oldies station,” my twelve year old howled.

That’s not the bad part, mind you. The bad part is the fact I was listening to Guns & Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.” Sigh…

Getting connected – and staying connected – to today’s generation is a miserable endeavor. For me, anyway. I’m learning though. Once I got over the kicking and screaming of having to enter the twenty-first century, I accepted the fact that if I don’t get my message out in a way this generation is willing and wanting to listen to, I’m doomed. Like, apparently, Axl Rose.

I order to market my new romance novel, DESIRE IN THE EVERGLADES, I had to go through one heck of a horrible learning curve. A Six Flags roller-coaster ride. Here are the best things I did – so if you’re “old” like me, you can get on board the social media train, too.

1) Joined an RWA chapter (www.CTRWA.org) to have people both demonstrate and explain what authors need to do to stay on top of today’s media sites, marketing-wise.

2) Read other people’s tweets, articles, and even taken their on-line classes. I’ve had wonderful luck with a free RWA on-line course taught by Catherine Bybee (@catherinebybee). Kristan Higgin’s (@Kristan_Higgins) tweets are great for ideas on effective tweeting. Writer.ly (@WriterlyTweets) and Writer’s Digest (@WritersDigest) often have interesting articles to learn from.

3)   Begged my friends to help me out. Hey, I wasn’t above it. My thanks, and pity, to those I’ve lassoed.

4) Gone deaf to all the wise-cracks from my smart-alecky twelve year old.

Whose says an old dog can’t learn new tricks? I got you to find this blog post, didn’t I?

What have you tackled, despite being “too old”?

Facebook: Stacy Hoff   Twitter: @authorstacyhoff Web: www.stacyHoff.com DESIRE IN THE EVERGLADES will be released in e-format by Soul Mate Publishing, Inc., on September 17, 2014, on Amazon.com.

Filed under: How To, Marketing, Social Media, Stacy Hoff, Writer's Life

Outlander by Gerri Brousseau

If you are a writer, or an avid reader, you can’t help but now that STARZ has begun airing their Outlander series. I’m ashamed to confess that until I started watching it, I had not read the books. Why did I start watching it? I’m interested in anything Highlands, and I love time travel.

This series is incredible. I am addicted. The costumes are wonderful and the directors and screenwriters have kept it very close to the book. Yes, I caved and bought the first book and I can’t put it down! STARZ plays the episodes over frequently and I try to watch them more than once each. I do this because when I watch it the first time, I’m paying attention to the clothing, the second time I may pay attention to the table settings, the kitchen workers, the weapons, the surroundings. It’s wonderful. This is also the first time since Braveheart that I’ve seen a film where the people are dirty. Their shirts are not stark white and pristine, but rather gray and worn and often times covered in blood. Of course the best feature of the entire saga is the actor, Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie. He is a native of Scotland and truly a McHottie.

My question today is, are you watching the Outlander series and if so, what do you think of it?

Filed under: romance

The Mind of a Writer

Okay, I was going to title this blog after writers specifically, but after some thought it made sense to title this after all successful artists, especially as I would say writing is also an art. The reason I say successful is that in this day and age, I believe artists must be extremely talented to make their passions a career.

You all have probably read me “saying” this before bit it takes an immense amount of talent to make it as a writer. Most people will immediately sense the need for imagination and storytelling ability, but few will understand that it takes a great business sense to truly be successful. If there is one thing I wish I had known earlier it is how important it is to lay out the bones or foundation of your artistic career. Have a plan in place and plan ahead. I’m not saying it is too late if you haven’t done that. After all, life often happens and interrupts even the best laid plans. Still, you will find the road to success much easier if you prepare– in more ways than one.

In my opinion, a writer has the wonderful opportunity to use their minds more thoroughly. We have reign over creativity and yet it is also in our best interest to use logic to strategize the plots or layouts of our works and our career in its entirety. Would you writers out there agree? Did you realize you possessed such talent? I hope so!

Happy writing this week.

Filed under: Toni Kelly, What inspires you?, Writer's Life, Writing Topics

“Captured” is Almost Up! by Mandy Rosko

Man, I’m super stoked. One of the book bundles I will be featured in with New York Times bestselling author Opal Carew, New York Times bestselling author Sharon Page, Teresa Wilde, and New York Times bestselling author Eve Langlais and other bestselling and erotic authors is almost ready. I’ll be doing a paranormal story, and the others will be doing a mixup between paranormal and contemporary, but they all have some form of kidnapping theme. Teresa Wilde is well known for her Sheik stories, and even though I’m not certain if that’s what she will include in the bundle, I can’t help but think about what an awesome romance that would be :3

I think the bundle will be up for preorder on Amazon and other outlets tomorrow, as of writing this, that’s September 2nd. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that was the date set. I’m going to ask if I can update this with a link later on when I get one, though I might be forced to wait until next Tuesday before I can post again :)

I saw the chosen cover for it, but it’s not ready yet so I’m not going to put it up just in case that would be a no, no. All the authors involved are going to get a list of things they can do for promo, but I’m not sure what I’ll be doing yet. I just wish that I wasn’t sick so that I had a little more energy right now, because I feel like I can be buzzed with excitement for two minutes before needing to rest for an hour, and then am all hyper and happy again every time I get an email update.

Again, like last week, sorry there are no pictures, but I’ll make sure to post them the second I get them. I’m especially excited to see what the 3D version of the cover will look like. I might have to print it out and frame it up on my wall :D

Anyway, apologies for the short posts, the updates I make are going to be a little short whenever my Tuesdays roll around because this isn’t the only book bundle I’m participating in for September, and I need to make sure everything’s in order on my end. I don’t know if it’s just the cold I have, but all this work is really tiring me out in the best possible way :)

Cheers,

Mandy Rosko

Connect with me online:

Facebook

www.goodreads.com/Mandyrosko
 
Twitter: @rizzorosko
 
Mandyrosko.com
 
Newsletter: http://rizzorosko.com/contact.html
Filed under: romance novels

A Very Oz Weekly Paranormal-Scope

 

I love The Wizard of Oz, and I’m back after losing power yesterday.

While I am not qualified in any way to read neither stars nor planets, I am intimately linked to the paranormal in the world in many ways. So are you.

The paranormal scope is for entertainment purposes only and is not meant to guide your life by.

The week for:

Aries:

Flying monkeys do exist.  Keep inside or in your vehicle.  Trouble will pass you by as you keep to your destination.

Taurus:

The Tin Man has a heart after all.  Be friendly to everyone.

Gemini:

The lollipop guild  has given you a ton of treats.  Choose wisely and don’t eat them all.  Take them over to friend or into the office.  Share your wealth of lollipops.

Cancer:

The Straw man is a wild dancer.  Go out and have some fun.

Leo:

The Lullabye League sings to you for sweet dreams.  You need more rest.

Virgo:

Glinda the Good Witch is sending good luck your way.

Libra:

The Cowardly Lion needed to find his courage.  Be a bit braver in all you do.  Try new things.

Scorpio:

Toto is a good judge of character.  Dogs are affectionate and kind and love to play.  Play up your assets  but don’t forget to play.

Sagittarius:

You don’t need to have ruby slippers to wish your way home.  Budget for a reunion either of family, friends or both.

Capricorn:

The Emerald City manicurist looks at you and is thinking makeover.

Aquarius:

The Wizard of Oz believes in the strength of belief rather than magic.  Believe in yourself in all things.

Pisces:

The Wicked Witch of the West has misplaced her ruby slippers.  You find them.  What do you wish for?  Be aware that wishes can come true.  Wish wisely

-Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Filed under: Susan Hanniford Crowley, Vampire David Hilliard, Vampire King of New York, Weekly Paranormal-Scope