Cate Masters's Blog, page 102
March 5, 2011
Going with Gravity for Six Sentence Sunday
Hope you all had as much fun as I did last week. The first birthday celebration was a blast. And thanks to all who visit each week. I truly appreciate your comments!
Because the EPIC awards are next week, I thought I'd feature another 2011 EPIC finalist - my contemporary, Going with Gravity. Set in gorgeous Oahu, one of my dream destinations, the research for this story was an escape in itself!
She nestled next to him, letting the moment wash over her: the warm breeze against her skin, the sound of the surf spreading its foam against the shore like a lacy-edged blanket. So different from the night sounds of New York – honking horns, speeding taxis, people – always people everywhere. Time had a clarity here it lacked in the city. Moments anchored within themselves, not rushed forward to the next and the next.What came next, she couldn't guess, and didn't want to try. For tonight, the warmth of Wes' body next to hers was enough.
You can view the trailer, read reviews, the blurb and excerpt here.
Be sure to visit Six Sentence Sunday to read all the wonderful entries this week from talented authors. Thanks again for your comments!
March 2, 2011
March is Women's History Month
The stories of women fascinate me. Whether historical or contemporary, if the story contains some message of hope or embodies a universal struggle, it's got me hooked.It's important to honor those who've made inroads for women. While I celebrate the stories of important historical women such as Amelia Earhart, too often their stories overshadow those who perhaps never saw the limelight, but were every bit as important.
For that reason, I love finding books such as Lynn Santa Lucia's Ladies First, which celebrates "History's greatest female trailblazers, winners and mavericks." It features well-known women such as Amelia, Indira Gandhi and Marie Curie, but also lesser knowns such as Hildegard of Bingen and Wu Zetian. I highly recommend you pick up a copy.
Another longtime favorite is Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel. It features no famous females, but their stories are extraordinary.
As National Women's History Month reminds us, "Our History is Our Strength." Read more here. Or here.
I don't know about you, but it inspires me to write. :)
March 1, 2011
Rearranging the blog
This week began the switch to a page for the Author Spotlights. I hope you'll check back each week to visit the new featured author.Kicking off this new page is the incomparable Ginger Simpson. Please visit Ginger and read her great advice about reviews and critics.
If you miss a week, don't worry. I'll move the links for past weeks to the bottom of the page so you can visit them whenever you'd like. Or, use the search feature to find other posts by a favorite author.
I'll also be launching an occasional feature, Author Chat, an interview which focuses more on the author than their books and writing process. A little more fun, and less intense than the the Author Spotlight, lol.At this point, I'm thinking these will be limited to once or twice a month. If you're interested, shoot me an email at cate.masters AT gmail.com. I'd love to feature you and your book!
February 28, 2011
And the winner is...
Congrats to Sarah Grimm, who won the autographed print copy of Picture This, along with a beaded book thong. Sarah, I'll contact you for your mailing address so I can pop this in the mail to you this week. Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks to everyone who left a comment for yesterday's Six Sentence Sunday. I'm having a great time participating each week. Hope you're enjoying reading my Six too!
February 26, 2011
Happy 1st birthday, Six Sentence Sunday!
Although I'm a latecomer to Six Sentence Sunday, it's still exciting to help celebrate its first anniversary. It's been a lot of fun to participate, as well as read the other participating authors' entries. I appreciate all your comments. They give me a real boost!
As part of the birthday celebration, I'll give away one autographed print copy of my contemporary, Picture This. The novella's garnered some wonderful reviews, and is a 2011 EPIC finalist too. To be in the running, just leave a comment on this post. I'll announce the winner tomorrow.
Here are six from Picture This:
He bit his lip. "I need to explain. About that night." Her heart fell. The night he kissed her – he had to mean that night. The night they had one amazing kiss, then everything fell apart between them.
****
You can read reviews, the excerpt,and view the trailer for Picture This here.
Be sure to check out more wonderfully talented Six Sentence Sunday participants here, as well as their fab birthday prizes!
February 25, 2011
Rule 1: Always have a backup plan
I was disappointed Thursday that Dead to Rights didn't make the first cut for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Well, sort of disappointed. If I'd made the first cut, it would have meant another round of waiting instead of getting the novel out there in front of a publisher.
So instead, the backup plan kicked in. On Thursday, I sent a query off to a publisher. I had been revising the story since submitting it to Amazon, and like it much better, actually. Admittedly, it had a few kinks in it when I submitted it to ABNA. I rushed to finish it, which is never a good idea, but it was so close to being done, I wanted to give it a shot.
So congrats to all the ABNA finalists, and wishing you the best of luck.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my sub too! :)
So instead, the backup plan kicked in. On Thursday, I sent a query off to a publisher. I had been revising the story since submitting it to Amazon, and like it much better, actually. Admittedly, it had a few kinks in it when I submitted it to ABNA. I rushed to finish it, which is never a good idea, but it was so close to being done, I wanted to give it a shot.
So congrats to all the ABNA finalists, and wishing you the best of luck.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my sub too! :)
February 23, 2011
Emma Lai in the Author Spotlight
Cate: Please welcome Emma Lai. Emma will you please share a short bio with us?Emma: I like a challenge. First, I entered the male-dominated field of engineering. Then, I expanded my understanding of the world by studying international relations. Next came starting my own consulting business followed shortly by getting pregnant. Finally, my husband dared me to devote myself to writing. (He runs the consulting company now.) Writing keeps me sane. The characters demand their stories be told and nag incessantly until I comply. The characters are very insistent about me remaining faithful to their individual adventures. As a result, I write a range of genres and levels of heat.
Cate: Tell us about Twice is Not Enough and where it's available.Emma: The idea for Twice is Not Enough came to me during one the chats held by the editors of The Wild Rose Press. One of the Scarlet editors mentioned she hadn't seen enough voyeuristic stories and another said Regencies were hot. I combined the two and Twice was born.Click here to buy it from The Wild Rose Pres.
Cate: Very cool. Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Emma: After several disastrous engagements, Lady Minerva Peters is an expert at suppressing her own needs. Only in the darkness of night does she give in to her wanton desires with a fantasy lover. In the middle of a crowded ballroom, she learns her father is not yet ready to let her fade into spinsterhood. Humiliated, she ducks into a dark alcove only to find out she's not alone. Her hiding spot is occupied by a captivating stranger. Before she can escape, the two become voyeurs to another couple's sexual rendezvous. The atmosphere heats up and so does her body, especially with the tempting offers whispered in her ear.
Will Minerva deny her needs once again or will she embrace the anonymity of their seclusion and finally explore her basic impulses and the startling attraction to the compelling mystery man?Cate: So sexy. Can you tell us why we're going to love your hero?
Emma: He knows what he wants and goes after it. Cate: Tease us with one little thing about your fictional world that makes it different from others.
Emma: I like to think the voyeuristic library scene makes the story original.Cate: What's next for you?
Emma: I'm desperately trying to finish a full-length book. Though I'm not sure which one. I have a contemporary erotic and a young adult sci-fi/fantasy in the works. (I know. Opposite ends of the spectrum.)
Cate: What inspired you to draft your first story? Emma: My husband. He loves to read. So, I wrote him a quick story, which is how His Ship, Her Fantasy , also available from The Wild Rose Press, was born.Cate: Love that! Do you have a writing routine?
Emma: Write whenever I can. On the days, I'm able to have a routine, I check my email, visit blogs and then settle in to write—music or movie on in the background, coffee or tea at hand.
Cate: Where can readers find you on the web?
Emma: Website: http://www.emmalaiwrites.com/Blogs: http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com and http://emmalaivisitsthespicierside.blogspot.comFacebook: EmmaLaiWritesTwitter: @EmmaLaiWrites
Cate: Is there anything you'd like to ask our readers?
Emma: What's the one thing guaranteed to ruin a book for you?
Cate: Readers, Emma is giving away a book to a random commenter... so start commenting. She'll pick a winner on Sunday, February 27th and announce the winner here.Thanks so much for being my guest Emma! Best of luck with all your projects.
February 22, 2011
Confessions of a tech dweeb
Time to come clean. I'm a total tech dweeb. Generally, I manage to get something the way I want it by sheer persistence, clicking on this or that button or link until something changes to my liking.
One site that baffles me is Goodreads. I admit, I have avoided it for months after setting up an account because I just can't figure it out. It looks simple enough, but to my mind, there aren't enough buttons to click on to move or change things. :) My profile looks very unprofessional because I just can't figure out how to move the boxes. And for some reason, it won't display most of my book covers. There's some arbitrary system there, or else the site's trying to tell me my covers aren't very attractive, lol.
And another confession regards Twitter. My Facebook page is set up to send out tweets, but I am clueless with regard to the in-depth stuff, such as hashtags and actual chatting. I'm terrible at it, so I avoid it. Sorry! If I'm "following" you, it means I would love to but don't know how to, in reality.
After months of frustration, I finally figured out how to get on Networked Blogs. If you are feeling kind, I'd love for you to follow me. :) Just click on Follow this Blog in the box on the top right. Thank you!
But besides not having enough of a left brain to be of practical use, I also have the problem of time. I haven't made much progress writing this year. Life intervened in a big way, as it will. And my stories are calling me. More than calling. They're screaming, all wanting my attention at once. It wouldn't be so bad if only one or two WIPs were in the queue. But there are FOURTEEN. Yes, fourteen stories are all screaming at me at once. It's sheer pandemonium and cacophony and madness. I have to pick one and block out the others, and just sit down and write.
This week's a big week, writing-wise. Tomorrow, Amazon will announce the titles that made the first cut in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. I'll let you know on Saturday how I made out, and what the backup plan is (if need be!). If you get curious before then, you can check the site for Dead to Rights, my urban fantasy.
Meanwhile, if you have any tips on navigating Goodreads, I'd love to hear them! Alms, alms for the tech dweeb...
One site that baffles me is Goodreads. I admit, I have avoided it for months after setting up an account because I just can't figure it out. It looks simple enough, but to my mind, there aren't enough buttons to click on to move or change things. :) My profile looks very unprofessional because I just can't figure out how to move the boxes. And for some reason, it won't display most of my book covers. There's some arbitrary system there, or else the site's trying to tell me my covers aren't very attractive, lol.
And another confession regards Twitter. My Facebook page is set up to send out tweets, but I am clueless with regard to the in-depth stuff, such as hashtags and actual chatting. I'm terrible at it, so I avoid it. Sorry! If I'm "following" you, it means I would love to but don't know how to, in reality.
After months of frustration, I finally figured out how to get on Networked Blogs. If you are feeling kind, I'd love for you to follow me. :) Just click on Follow this Blog in the box on the top right. Thank you!
But besides not having enough of a left brain to be of practical use, I also have the problem of time. I haven't made much progress writing this year. Life intervened in a big way, as it will. And my stories are calling me. More than calling. They're screaming, all wanting my attention at once. It wouldn't be so bad if only one or two WIPs were in the queue. But there are FOURTEEN. Yes, fourteen stories are all screaming at me at once. It's sheer pandemonium and cacophony and madness. I have to pick one and block out the others, and just sit down and write.
This week's a big week, writing-wise. Tomorrow, Amazon will announce the titles that made the first cut in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. I'll let you know on Saturday how I made out, and what the backup plan is (if need be!). If you get curious before then, you can check the site for Dead to Rights, my urban fantasy.
Meanwhile, if you have any tips on navigating Goodreads, I'd love to hear them! Alms, alms for the tech dweeb...
