Cerise DeLand's Blog, page 72

LADY STARLING'S STOCKINGS out at Amazon for 99 cents!

FOR 99 cents!
Buy link: 
Lady Starling's Stockings
And do read Part 2 of my self-pubbed journey below in the next post.
Part 3 begins tomorrow!

Part 2: MY SELF-PUB LIFE or How I learned to love new aspects of publishing

My latest thriller with Desiree Holt & available now: Until MidnightNow that I had a viable story, I knew what was coming was the Picky-Picky Part, all those pesky details that can make you or break you in any biz.

What did I face?

The formatting came first. The very thought of all that text formatting and coding made my head spin. What did this girl do?

Yes, I downloaded the guides for Kindle and Smashwords. I read. I pondered in my heart if I could do this or even wanted to.

Concurrently, I read the wonderfully informative emails posted on the RWA-PAN loop (to which you may belong if you are a published author under RWA's guidelines). I read them, but more importantly, I took notes and I kept them in a special folder. THIS has permitted me to return time and again to re-read vital bits of info. Authors there came to share their experiences and their advice. The topics ranged from whether or not to buy ISBNs, how to post as more than one name, one type of genre, how to avoid errors of up-loading. Oh, the fun we have. But invaluable to me. And I am, once more struck by how much I have benefitted from belonging to RWA for almost 30 years. Yes. I was 12 when I joined.... I digress!

And also at the same time, I created my copyright pages. Advice on how to do this begins with the dictum to not use the copyright symbol because the formats do not like it. But then comes the other part of which text to use. There are many!  For this book, I used one for those who write historicals with reference to real people, now long departed, but nonetheless needful of clauses. This book refers to Napoleon's brother-in-law Murat and to the new king of France in this period. As for all else around the hero and heroine, many who did perform their functions, such as the English ambassador, needed to be disclaimed. Pesky, but true! Hence, this search for copyright and its citation took TIME. So did the writing of my bio, edited to be useful for this book and current listings of reviews pertinent to the book! Advice from me: Beware the details that will consume time and effort but must be correct to be useful!

Back to our discussion of formatting and reading the Guides!

So, how did I do with the Guides? I dunno, maybe I'm just thick, but much of it was like reading gobbledygook-pooh-pooh-pa-do. I had to re-read them. Take notes. (We always used to say in financial services that the jargon is in there to impress and keep people OUT of the profession. When I wrote financial issues for The Washington Post, the editors loved my stuff because I wrote for the common man and woman.) Armed with my insights (and I use that term loosely), I tried to develop a text that looked like what they declared they needed. Did I get it right?

To be honest, I am not certain. Why? Because at this point, I had spent a few hours and time is big money to me. Hence, I hired a formatter to do this task for me. Chicken, yes, you may call me that perhaps. But as a colleague of mine says, (Mary Jo Putney) she did not want to burn up her own mental Bytes with skills that someone else had mastered. That's me! I LIKE professional help that saves me heartaches. But mostly to me, Heartache Time IS money. Heartaches kill my creativity, bog it down in Things That Make Me Wince. Ergo, the formatter for me. And in my case, my graphic designer also provides this service for others of her clients who hire her for the cover design. (And yes, you may write to me privately and I will share her email with you, as I will for my professional editor. A list of all comes later in another part of this series.)

As of earlier today, I have completed the forms on my own Amazon Kindle Publishing page. I have posted the hi res of the cover. I have sent the .mobi file format given me by my designer and sent the whole package off for REVIEW.

Drumming fingers.

Waiting now.

Takes 24 - 72 hours for them to decide if they like your cover, text and if you have filled out all the blanks correctly, completely.
Tick tock. Tick tock....
TOMORROW, Part 3!

PART I: MY SELF-PUB LIFE or How I learned to love new aspects of publishing

My latest Regency! Lady Varney's Risqué BusinessAm I ready this week finally to put up a 99-center at Kindle?
Oh, yes. But my journey into self-pubbing a book in digital format has been a journey! A BIG ONE!
Loving the success of my erotic Regencies, and cascading down a hill of delight after a week of SIX five star reviews for different books from different sites, I am giggly, jittery and in a panic.
Why?
I hate new learning curves. AND THE ONE FOR THIS has been gig-i-normous!
But I wanted to try this for many reasons. What are they? They begin with the fact that I thought this 99 cent push would increase my readership numbers and complement what I do at EC, Total-E-Bound and Resplendence. (I also have a few books rights' reverted to me from my print books and I wanted to learn how to do all this to get them out into the digital world.)
My goals in place, my strategy developed and I kept on going.
The first task, create a plot and characters I adore!
Now my challenge as an author is to see and feel the people before I write them. No outlines. No character charts. Nah. Not for moi. I have got to SEE these folks. This Takes Time. Usually 2 or 3 a.m. Time. You feel me.
Then, I need to know the conflict and I have to SEE the story. For me, this means visualizing the scenes and their dialogue.
Then, what? We come to my first WONDERFUL benefit of self-pubbing: I went, dear reader, SHOPPING. Not for shoes. Not for clothes. Or purses. Shopping for a LOOK. Yep. You get me. ART.
Now, for some this is a quick affair. For me? I spent my life in corporate and government PR and advertising. So art means the world to me. And if one benefit of self-pubbing is that I am going to be able to choose my branding look with art, lemme just say, it will be precisely what I want. So my shopping was a joy and I indulged myself in it for hours, days, days and days. I hear you as you say, wow, where is this art?
I will show you. Soon. (she teased.)
Having found the art to go with my plot, I knew what artist I wanted and I approached her. Yes, she is a pro and she had done work for me before and yes, I did love it all! Having worked with artists for decades, I can tell one who has not only software but skills AND an artistic eye. For me, this artist has it in spades and she understands romance and erotica. Vital to have an artist who knows your genre and the audience's needs.
Within one email and exchange of ideas on the art I had chosen, this artist had my perfect concept back to me within days.  Fueled now by the beauty of what my product would look like, I moved in fully to the task of writing the book.
Let me just say, the writing was not hard.
Oh, no. Never has been. I submerge, go into Flow and do not come out until it is done and I am happy with the product.
However, what happened after I thought I was finished was a bit of a rough go.
And what happened? I walked away, as I always do and asked myself (as you, Dear Author, also ask yourself), what's missing? What did I not say? What did I not include? How might this be better?
And as I asked, I did something I usually NEVER do: I sent it to a Beta reader.
As a professional writer now for many decades, I learned long ago the only person I must please is my editor. Without one, what's a girl to do, eh?
I had an answer! I have friends, accomplished, delightful, HELPFUL friends. I sent LADY STARLING'S STOCKINGS to her and she raved! She adored it!  Big hit, she proclaimed. Great conflict and resolution. We talked about this and that in the plot and I felt better. Relieved!
Result? I stopped worrying that this story was not up to my own standards OR that of my accomplished friend's.
Next step?
One I am used to. Send it to an editor. Now this person I know well, too. She is a professional fiction editor, an expert copy and line editor and one I knew would comb my manuscript for the elements it needed to make it, dare I say, superb. Especially if it already...wasn't.
This person I paid. Gladly. I am not a sloppy writer. I am good at grammar and spell check is my pal, but occasionally I will omit a word, a bit of logic, an emotion that might make the work perfect. I knew this editor would find all those pesky things.
And she did.
What's more--and I knew this would happen--during the interim, I had thought about my story. In the shower. In the car. Cooking. Dining. I re-read it one day. OH. I. FELT. WHERE. THINGS. NEEDED to be added!
So when my friend/copyeditor came back to me, I rejoiced at her comments and her copy edits. Yes, she had done what I, in my creativity, failed to see or do.
The result?
I edited as per her suggestions here and there. Then I went in and added those things I FELT it needed. And viola! In the end, the work had roughly 3000 more words! Not bad. I re-read them, too. All necessary, I concluded.
What was next?
Return for Part 2: My Self-Pub Life or How I learned to love New Aspects of Self-publishing!
When? Tomorrow!

Night Mission? Oh. You. Bet! Desiree Holt is in the house!

Navy SEAL Gabriel Walker didn't think he was asking too much, just a hot woman with some brains who made his down time between missions pleasant. And maybe a little but more. Forty-something Maggie Fitzpatrick wanted a younger man with a sex drive to match her own and even smarts to hold a conversation. And maybe a little bit more. When Madame Evangeline paired them for the one night stand neither of them expected the explosive chemistry, the very hot sex…and a littler bit more.Need a nibble?Course you do!Excerpt, Copyright 2011, Desiree Holt. "The first thing he noticed was the living room of the suite, decorated like a room from the mid-1800s, only with modern upgrades. The second thing–which should have been the first–nearly made his heart stop. A nearly-naked woman lounged on the couch, wearing the shortest, sheerest…whatever the hell it was called, that he'd ever seen. He hoped his jaw didn't become unhinged when it hit the floor, or that she expected a lot of conversation right off the bat. No question about it. I am definitely locked and loaded."Hi!" She flashed him an incendiary smile, her low, seductive voice hinting at her Texas heritage. "Come on in. I've been waiting for you."  He lifted an eyebrow. "Have you, now. All your life?" "I don't know. You tell me." She laughed softly.She rose languidly from the couch and the sunlight pouring in through the sheer curtains left nothing beneath her shortie to anyone's imagination. If he'd ordered a dream woman, this would be her. Oh, wait. I did. And here she is. Gabe dropped his duffel by the door and strode over to where she stood on ridiculously high slip-on stiletto heels.  "Well. Let's finds out." He grinned down at her, placed his hands on her shoulders and bent his head. The moment his mouth touched hers, a jolt of electricity sizzled through him. Her mouth tasted every bit as good as it looked, and when his tongue slid inside, she tasted better than finely aged bourbon. She molded herself to him, her full breasts pressing against the hard wall of his chest, her slender fingers rubbing up and down his arms. He let his tongue wander everywhere inside her mouth, licking the slick, inner surfaces, drinking from her as if he'd never be able to get enough. When she glided her own tongue over his, he tightened his grip on her and sucked her deep inside his mouth. "Well," she gasped when he lifted his head, the pulse at her throat hammering wildly. "Hello to you, too."

BEST BOOK of the WEEK for UNTIL MIDNIGHT!

Whipped  Cream's Best Book Sundae!A fast-paced and exciting read from the very first paragraph, this story is truly riveting and magnetic in its intensity. Rarely have I found a more erotically thrilling and satisfying affair than the one between this powerfully sexual and dynamic couple. The voracious and undeniable passion they have for each other slams into them the instant they meet and is urgently and immediately answered.
Nicole is a sexy, independent woman who is also a highly trained security professional with her own agency. Adam is a human weapon of assault and defense for military, Massad. They are thrown together in a private resort in Mexico by mysterious circumstances, expecting solitude and rest rather that the full-scale assassination attempts that Nicole has become the target of. They meet suddenly when Nicole is shot at and Adam is there, out of nowhere, to save her life by taking out the assassin. That is only the beginning of their mysterious and unexpected battle.
The intensity of these two type-A personalities and their open and straight-forward approach to their wild, abandoned sex completely captured me. Their fierce attraction creates a raging hunger that they have no desire to deny. This results in an unexpected and unbelievably hot experience that follows them throughout a dangerous and exhausting adventure. Nicole and Adam become competent and exciting partners in this clever and gutsy crime thriller.
The pace and suspense of the story and the explosive energy of the love affair is addicting. There is just the right amount of tension and complexity to the plot, which is compelling in itself. I was impressed with the superior and subtle character development and the nearly flawless flow of dialog. Add to that the chemistry between the highly intelligent and active main characters and it spells winner.
Until Midnight kept me on the edge of my seat and was a fun, roaring-hot read. I have nothing but praise for Desiree Holt and Cerise Deland, and will follow this series wherever they lead. If you appreciate high voltage romance and adventure, and quality writing, then you will want to read this story.
Here is an eloquent quote from this highly romantic tale: "Yes, she craved him. Like sunshine and rain. And for an excitement and delight in living that she had never known until he took her in his arms and loved her with that fabulous body." I hope you enjoy, Until Midnight as much as I did.

Cougar? Need inspiration? Try newest Nicole Austin

OUT IN PRINT! Cougar Hunt http://www.jasminejade.com 
 
Summer of the Cougar by Nicole Austin 
With the big four-oh looming, Larissa Cross is more than ready to shed the
roles that have defined her and make drastic changes. Gone are the widowed
Army wife, soccer mom and empty nester. She's even setting aside the
schoolteacher until fall. 

A naughty challenge issued by fellow erotic romance booklovers on their blog
Tempt the Cougar, has come at the perfect time and ignited Rissa's
competitive drive. It's going to be a glorious summer full of hot younger
man lovin' for a new cougar on the prowl. Rawr! 

Tattooed and pierced fireman JD Harmon is tempting prey but there's much more to the hunk than his bad boy good looks. A one-night stand isn't in his plans, and sex—no matter how mind-blowing— won't distract him from his goals. JD intends to tame the wicked cougar and stake a claim on her heart.
Locked and Loaded Samantha Cayto 
Former army-turned- ER doctor Grace McKinnon is through with going to bed
with nothing more than fantasies and a yearning to resurrect her personal
life. She's determined instead to take the Cougar Challenge with a flesh and
hot-blooded younger man. She discovers the perfect opportunity steaming up
the curtain of exam room four. 

Captain Mark Bennington has been locked and loaded—ready for action—since
meeting Grace. He's on a mission to heat up the Boston nights while on leave
This sexy older woman is lighting his way, fulfilling double-time every sex
wish he's ever made. But it's going to be the toughest fight of his life to
convince her to take a chance on more than just a fling. 

Copping a Feel Lexxie Couper 
Darci-Rae Whitlam doesn't know which is more disturbing, receiving scads of
obscene phone calls—or getting so turned-on by said phone calls. Then
there's the email from her American friend, Rachel, taunting Darci with
something called a Cougar Challenge. Just the thought of seducing a younger
man is enough to permanently soak her knickers. No wonder her
ever-disapproving sister thinks she's oversexed! 

Cybercrime Detective Jarrod St. James is investigating a case of stolen
identity. He quickly learns the fiery redhead claiming to be Darci-Rae
Whitlam is the real deal (his shoulder trapped in the jaws of her gargantuan
dog might have sped that decision along). He really should go back to Sydney
continue tracking the imposter who's operating a phone-sex business in
Darci's name…but the woman proves too tempting. Job be damned, he has to
have her. The fact she's got a titillating challenge to complete only helps
his case. 

Darci just may be the fastest cougar to snag her cub yet. Being the victim
of a crime has never been more fun! 

Bang-on great words for I CAUGHT THE SHERIFF

Over at Whipped Cream today, a few wonderful words about my sheriff and how she gets her man!
Need a bang up 4th? Want to see how we do it in Texas?
You know you do.
Here it is:
Lex Coltrane has a thing for the new sheriff, a woman named Lana. 

This story has sexual tension from the beginning and it [never] stops even when Lex and Lana enter into a sexual relationship. The pacing is fast, the dialogue crisp and Lana comes across as not only a tough law woman, but one who knows what she wants in and out of the bedroom. In this particular case it's Lex and the author did a great job showing us why. He's sexy, smart and wants Lana no matter what.

The sex scenes are very hot and there's something for just about everyone's taste in erotic stories. Sometimes I laughed at Lana and wanted to cheer her on when she hooks Lex. I liked the idea that not only had the author chosen to make the law person female in this story but also enjoyed that Lana was a modern woman in other aspects of her life too. 

I thought the story would have a different ending and the one the author chose surprised me. It was satisfying and if you're looking for a 'quickie' read for a hot summer day or night, this one fits the bill.
http://www.whippedcream2.blogspot.com/?zx=e48e73c7292634
KISSES TO THE FOLKS at WC!
I Caught the Sheriff

Laugh of the DAY!

George Lopez reads his own version of romance novels--with heroes that are Working Stiffs!

http://www.lopeztonight.com/episode_recaps_and_highlights/blue_collar_romance_novels.php

WINNER WINNER!

THANKs to all of you who came for the bag of goodies contest and the giveaway goes to...drumroll!
Debby236. (Do email me your snail mail addy!)
THANKS AND ENJOY!
Kisses to all who are so excited about LADY VARNEY'S RISQUE BUSINESS!
She sits on 3 top 10 best seller lists  and I am tickled!

HOLT & DELAND ROCK IT OUT! TODAY!

GAMES, FUN AND PRIZES WITH DESIREE HOLT and ME! WHERE?
http://www.cyberlaunchparty.blogspot.com/
Desiree! Can you resist a Texas Ranger?
Skye Chamberlain can't!










This is the first of monthly ROCK PARTIES by the 2 of us. You do not want to miss the fun as we celebrate our newest releases!