Vivian Arend's Blog, page 83

My Writer's World- goals

AKA why am I doing this?

I'm still on my convoluted journey around the US, using my time as a gypsy to explore new locations, to spend time with my family, and to think about what I want the future to look like.

You know, asking myself what do I want to be when I grow up?

It turns out, I want to be a writer.

But after two years of publication, and, well according to Goodreads, 29 books (including freebies) there are finally some defining terms for ME that are fitting into the picture.

I want to write the best books I can. That does mean that what I write now is different than what I wrote three years ago when I started. There are so many lessons I've learned, in terms of editing, and plotting and just how I spend my time online. And occasionally the lessons have settled in, and then six months later, have to be relearned because my life situation has changed, or my writing style or…

Nothing is static.

So, in terms of goals? What does that mean for me? At this point in time, I can honestly say I am writing the books that I want to write.  I'm not writing to the "market", I'm not trying to see what new boundaries I can push, except in terms of writing better stories. More character development. More emotion when called for, more humor when that's the ticket. Not all my stories are going to be for everyone~ heck, the fact I write both paranormal and contemporary means that right off the bat some people will shy away from some books.

But even after all those books I'm having more and more fun because the stories still thrill me. The fact I make more sales on some books and less on others? Nope–not an issue, because frankly the readers who like book A and the readers who like book B don't care about sales. They care about the characters. The story, the chance to enjoy a getaway.

And I enjoy writing them all. The sarcastic wolves, the adventurous contemporaries, the red-hot mystical shifters, the sexy sexy cowboys…

My Writer's World Rule #1: Write what you love.

Pacific Passion- whole series

~BUY LINKS~

Stormchild:  Samhain | Amazon| Barnes & Noble

Stormy Seduction:  Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Silent Storm: Pre-order Ebook: Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

New book! Stormy Seduction

Let's just stare for a moment, shall we?

…

Sigh. Okay, time to celebrate!! I'm so pleased that book two in the Pacific Passion series is now available for you! I thought I'd give you a few tidbits from some reviewers today, and then let you go off and enjoy. Thanks for supporting me so well over the past year, readers, and I hope you enjoy this story as well.

—-

Lillie at Novel Thoughts said: Stormy Seduction is about more than fighting and fun, though. This one gets the "muy caliente" rating on the heat scale. Smokin' hot! Beach sex, cabin sex, group sex (not involving the hero and heroine), public sex (involving the hero and heroine). It has it all. But I think the thing I enjoyed most was Ms. Arend's ability to turn a few simple sentence into something powerful and bring a story back to what it is at it's heart. A romance.

His lips touched her temple. Tender. Warm. "Let me get you home."

She let him take her by the hand and lead her back to their cabin, and all the time that word spun in her brain. Home .

It was becoming clearer that meant less a physical location and more wherever Matt happened to be.

Nix at Scorching Hot Books gave it a 5/5, and said: This short story is fabulous, but so was the first one. Read them both; they fit together as one story and you won't get the full impact of the tale without doing so. I enjoyed all the characters and the love story is truly wonderful to watch unfold. Give me a possessive man who is also reasonable enough to know when to step back and I'll be a very happy reader!

And finally from Book Lovers Inc: Using stellar descriptive prose Ms. Arend continues to depict the beauty of the British Columbia coastline, and using it as the setting for a people who are one with the land and water adding for me what was a special 'feel' to the story. I'm really looking forward to reading what comes next for Matt and Laurin in the final story of Ms. Arend's Pacific Passion series, Silent Storm.

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Sensual water shifters meet volatile air shifters—there's a storm coming.
Pacific Passion, Book 2
As morning-afters go, this one is looking pretty bright. Both air shifter Laurin Marshal and water shifter/shaman Matthew Jentry are aware, though, that trouble won't be long in coming. And they're right—before they've barely begun to work out the details of their mystical bond, the People of the Air find them to challenge Laurin's right to choose Matt as her mate.
Fending off Laurin's would-be suitors is easier than Matt anticipated, but there's another dilemma still to face. His own people. Laurin is just beginning to trust that his heart and body are completely hers, a radical change after she's spent the past two years alone and on the run. What will happen when his skittish, innocent partner encounters the playful, sensual—even lusty—ways of the Otter Clan?

Especially since they are arriving at the peak of the traditional summer solstice fertility rituals. And tradition demands they be the main attraction…

Incoming extreme passion yielding one otherworldly adventure. Don't let the book length fool you—there's enough heat in this story to challenge global warming. Four plus two equals one ceremony so explosive it may throw the earth off its axis.

~BUY LINKS~

Ebook available: Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

And if you need Stormchild? Samhain | Amazon| Barnes & Noble

Romance Times Conference!

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I'm here in LA, and having a marvelous time. Readers and authors from around the world (yes, there are Aussies here!) are getting together to talk about books. I got to lead some line dancing for the cowboy event for readers (whee!) and there's lots of chances to just get together and chat with people.

Official events–there's an ebook signing on Friday from 4-6pm and a print book signing Saturday 11-2pm. If you get a chance to drop in at the hotel, I'll be there with books to sign! Catch hold of me–I'd love to see you.

Viv

ARCs of the Pacific Passion series

And…it's time for a giveaway of some ARCs of Stormy Seduction and Silent Storm! These are books 2&3 of the Pacific Passion series. Book 1, Stormchild came out last May, and I'm very pleased to continue Matt and Laurin's story.

What are they about? Shifters, with a twist. The People of the Sea and the People of the Air, so mystical and a touch other-worldly. Set in the Pacific inside Passage of Canada, this is my first attempt at writing a continuing series for the same hero/heroine.

The cover copy and excerpts are available if you click the covers to the right. Take a peek, and if you think you'd be interested in reading and reviewing these for me, use the contact button at the top of the page to send me a note titled: ARC Giveaway.

I have some copies for bloggers and some for readers. Stormy Seduction is out April 12, so I'll send out the ARCs by the 5th. I won't be able to give to everyone, but I'll try to share them around as much as possible. I hope you'd post honest reviews at your favorite sites as well as personal blogs if you have them.

Oh, and I need to know your preferred format, and if you need a copy of Stormchild as well, because it would be good to see the whole picture. WARNING! These are short stories, but very hot. If that's not your taste, you should probably skip them.

Thanks!

Operation Auction

Operation Auction

Fatin (mad4rombooks) has been an integral part of the romance community for years – she owns and runs the RR@H Novel Thoughts and Book Talk blog, is an administrator of the WriteMinded loop, she's been my author assistant and a tireless advocate for romance novels.

On Tuesday, March 8th, she lost her husband in a senseless act of violence, leaving her alone with four children. You can read more about the tragedy here:http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9233067/

The romance community would like to rally around her. Therefore, we are holding auctions on ebay the last week of March.

Operation Auction will go live on Sunday, March 27th at 12:01 am PDT. We will have all items in the Operation Auction ebay store.

http://stores.ebay.com/operationauction2011

None of the items will show up until the auction is live and not all items are going up at the same time. We have divided the items as equally as possible into three batches.

Batch One will be up March 27th at 12:01 am PDT, ending March 30th at 12:01am

Batch Two will be up March 28th at 12:01 am PDT, ending March 31st at 12:01am

Batch Three will be up March 29th at 12:01 am PDT, ending April 1st at 12:01am

All listings will run for three days. The only exception is the breakfast at RT with Angela James, Jane Litte, and Sarah Wendell. Because that event is approaching very soon, it will be in batch one and be a one-day auction only.

We are going to try our best to get lists up of what items are in which batch, but with new donations still coming in I'm not sure everything will be included. There will be categories in the store to help you find the items you want.

Shipping details will be in the description of each item. Please read those carefully before you bid to see if it is US only or international.

———–

That's the official announcement. I want to tell you I've donated a Wolfie pack- stuffed wolf, a complete set of the Granite Lake Wolves in ebook, a print set of the books Under the Northern Lights and the upcoming Under the Midnight Sun. (If you have all the ebooks, I will give them to your choice of friend/family in whatever ebook format is needed)

ALSO- the winning bid gets to provide a name for me to use in one of the upcoming Takhini Wolves series. Yes, you can be a part of the wolfie pack… I hope that you'll drop in to support Fatin and her children.

The wolfie pack will be in the FIRST auction batch. Please pass on the news about the auction wherever you can.

Guess what? It's my anniversary!

It's been two years since my first book hit the electronic shelves. Two years, and a million online hours later, I'm still in a bit of shock, and I'm still having a blast.

Last year I had a huge anniversary party that ended up blowing my website bandwidth–my webmaster had no idea the amount of traffic that was going to start pouring through here after Wolf Signs was given out as a freebie on Kindle and Nook. And along with the party traffic? BOOM.

This year things are a lot more quiet. I'm still on the road, and scurrying to find internet is getting tougher. Either that, or I'm getting lazier. Or third option, I'm keeping too busy when I do have online time finishing books and edits and using twitter and  etc to spend a ton of time here. I'll be keeping things more up to date once we settle in a couple months, but for now?

I can say the journey has been totally worth it, and that's because of the readers and writer friends I've made along the way.

Thank you, to each of you. For buying my stories. For sending me emails. For posting reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and talking about the things you liked, and the things you didn't. Because I'm in this gig for the long run, and I learn from it all.

And in the end, this is supposed to be fun. And that's what YOU made it, my friends. Thank you.

**applauds loudly**

New Cover! Rising, Freestyle

Coming July 5

Xtreme Adventures #2

Stuck between a rock-solid man and a hard place…

Melanie Dixon's body may have recovered from a horrific climbing accident, but her nerve is long gone. So is the natural enthusiasm for life she took for granted. Tired of being scared, beyond ready to conquer her fears, she pulls up stakes and moves to her brother's new hometown to start over. Her first step is the most terrifying—to tackle the wall at the local climbing center.

Derrick James is mesmerized by Melanie's dark beauty, and equally impressed with her climbing abilities and determination. Watching her retune rusty skills spurs a desire to partner with her—on and off the ropes. Melanie's a compelling mix of wit, sensuality and vulnerability, and it's his delicious task to convince her the scars on her body are no match for the heat rising between them.

Then a man from Melanie's past shows up, pushing their relationship to the edge. Nathan King wants photographs for a "where are they now" series, but his side agenda is more personal in nature. A proposal that brings her out of her sensual shell and onto a precarious sexual ledge. Where trust is crucial…and too easily shattered.

Warning: This book may cause heart-pounding, body-shaking adrenaline attacks—and that's before they leave the climbing gym. Contains blindfolds, ropes and a healthy dose of voyeurism. Go on—you know you like to watch.

Wip snippet

Just a tiny tease from Rocky Mountain Hope…

——–

By the time they were through the door Matt's teeth were chattering like the gears on the old Ford. "Strip."

He had already gotten off his winter coat and was working on his boots before he noticed Hope stood motionless in front of him.

"Hope, you listening?"

She lifted her hands to paw at her zipper before letting them fall to her sides. "I'm here. The brain is working, honest, but not the fingers. Can't. Too cold."

He dragged off his final boot and wondered what he'd done to deserve this kind of punishment. Other than what he'd already confessed to. "Okay, I'll help you. Just…relax."

She nodded, eyes closed again. That made it easier—not having to watch those expressive orbs as he peeled off her outer layers and got her down to her T-shirt and slacks. Goosebumps rose on her arms, and he was a bastard for noticing her nipples were rigid under the thin layers of her top. When he led her into the bathroom she went without a complaint.

He turned on the taps for the tub and she nodded. "Oh yeah, that's what I need. Perfect."

That's when the lights went out.

Sharing the Love for Dear friend

A good friend of romance lost her husband in a tragic shooting early this week. Fatin not only works to share her love of romance with everyone through her website, she's worked closely with many authors, including me. She's stepped in since January to help keep me in line and out of chaos, and I already don't know how I did without her.

An auction is being organized with donations from all kinds of authors. Have a writing bent? There are critques, and even things like a lunch at RWA with a published author who will help you polish your pitch.

And readers? Lots for you as well. If you simply want to donate, there will be a button for that too.

My donation? A 'Wolfie Pack'.

-Print copy Under The Northern Lights

-Full set of the Granite Lake Wolves ebooks (Wolf Signs, Wolf Flight, Wolf Games, Wolf Tracks)

- Stuffed Wolfie

PLUS I'll use the winner's name in one of the upcoming Takhini Wolves books. 

——

I hope you will support Fatin and her family in this difficult time.

I'll post the link to the auction as soon as I find out the rest of the details-late March. There's more information here at Lauren Dane's site.

Viv