Cat Johnson's Blog, page 55

News in Pictures

UNRIDDEN (Studs in Spurs, Book 1) has been sighted on bookstore shelves countrywide. Here it is in the Reading, PA Borders Books.

The cover for Chase's book, RIDE (Studs in Spurs, Book 3), has been officially posted. RIDE is coming in eBook this December and in print the second half of 2011.

Jimmy (Red, Hot & Blue, Book 3) releases in eBook in 2 weeks!

My PBR Weekend Round-up & More

Sunday was the third and final day of my PBR weekend in Uncasville, CT. The day started earlier than Friday and Saturday, but it was no less eventful. I arrived at the Rider Relief Fund booth at noon to help sell raffle tickets and brought with me the items I'm donating to be auctioned off in Vegas to help raise money to aid injured bull riders. It was pretty much the same items I donated to the Brenda Novak Juvenile Diabetes Auction, and to the Authors After Dark auction to help the animal shelter–basically a custom printed "I Heart Cowboys" canvas tote bag, a "Let's Buck" baseball hat, bumper sticker, fridge magnet, journal and pen, a cowboy boot charm bookmark, a Cowboy Corn Salad Recipe Card, and a signed print copy of Unridden (Studs in Spurs, Book 1).

I told the women running the auction how romance readers usually take the canvas bag and get it signed by their favorite authors, and how it would probably go for a lot more if some of the riders signed it. She took the whole thing downstairs to some mysterious PBR room and the next thing I know, she's back telling me that Flint, one of the bull fighters who doubles as an entertainer/announcer, is reading passages from Unridden aloud to everyone in the room, and someone else wants to buy a copy. Sooo long story short, I had my box of author copies in the car and ended up selling 5, which is about what I sell at a good book signing at a Borders or Barnes and Noble after it's been planned in advance and advertised. Though I can only imagine what Flint was reading aloud–I'm just gonna go ahead and assume it was the dirty parts because men have the uncanny ability to be able to flip immediately to those–I am a little concerned about what the people listening were thinking. There is also the concern that I wrote that book probably 2 years ago, when I was still learning about the sport and there is a good chance the pros will find inconsistencies in it, either things I changed because I needed to for my plot line, or things I just plain messed up. But so it goes in writing. Nothing I can do about it now. In the meantime I hope they keep in mind I write to entertain readers but a side benefit is that it exposes romance readers to the sport. If one more person discovers the sport and becomes a bull riding fan because of reading my book, it can only be a win-win for everyone.

So after the eventful prelude to my afternoon, the bull riding championship round did not disappoint either. From having one rider hanging on the fence right in front of us to avoid the bull, to watching the heart-stopping moment another was knocked out cold and had the paramedics scrambling until he hopped up and walked out under his own power, it did not disappoint. Our seats were once again one row back from the dirt and almost directly behind one of the judges.

THEN after it was all over, I got brave and stood along the rail with a few other fans and had the bull riders sign one of my baseball hats. Unlike the person next to me who felt they should critique each and every rider's performance because apparently they know so much, I simply said thank you and was grateful to the ones that took the time to come out and meet us, which they are not required to do. And it was no hardship to get up close and personal with them. Yeah, they are all painfully young compared to me but phew…are they hot! Dirty jeans and all.

Then it was back home where I logged into my email and found the next big surprise–a fellow author saw my book in print on a shelf in Barnes & Noble. 2 copies! It doesn't seem like much but it's a huge deal for someone at my level to get unsolicited shelf space at a big chain bookstore. I've had 2 dreams in my career kind of come true so far. The first was that I wanted to walk through an airport and see someone reading my book and my Army consultant Sean saw that exact thing last year on his way from his garrison in Germany to leadership training at Fort Benning, GA. The second was to walk into a bookstore (one that I didn't arrange a signing at and ask–or beg–the manager to order in my books) and see my books on a shelf and that is what my author friend Stephanie Julian found. Though both of these things have happened, the experiences have been second hand, but it is a step in the right direction and I couldn't be happier!

PBR Round 2!

The night started out great and only proved to get better.

First, one of the PBR fangirls I know from Twitter, who also coincidentally reads my books, found me at the arena and we got to meet in person. Then Froggy, one of my old time fans from way back before I was writing cowboy books, came to the PBR event too! I've converted her and now she is a bull riding lover as well. AND she was sporting one of my Let's Buck stickers. (See pic below)

We sold a ton of raffle tickets to benefit the Rider's Relief Fund (a not for profit which assists injured bull riders) then I was free to find my seat.

Here's the thing about Mohegan Sun Arena. The sitemap is a bit deceiving and it wasn't until I was ushered to my seat that I realized I was 1 seat back from the dirt! If I was any closer I would have been sitting in one of the judge's laps. My proximity to the action was made very apparent when the first bull out kicked dirt in my face. I was willing to put up with that for the rest of the night just to be that close to the action, though I was sizing up the height and strength of the metal rails which were the only thing between me and the bulls, but luckily, that was the only time dirt was sent flying my way. The rest of the night was just action-packed fun!

So today, back to the arena for the 3rd and final round. I'll be volunteering at the RRF booth again AND I will be donating a Cat Johnson Cowboy Lover's gift bag packed full of my Let's Buck items and a signed copy of Unridden. This will be auctioned off at the final in Vegas to benefit the Rider's Relief Fund.

Watch on TV today. Maybe you'll see me!

Bulls, Sh*t and More!

So I'm here at Mohegan Sun Casino, where you walk past the slot machines and Blackjack tables and into an arena filled with sand, bulls and cowboys. Quite the surreal sight for Connecticut but tons of fun. Last night was the opening night event. My seat was just 2 away from the pens where they hold the bulls for the competition. This morning, sunny but brisk, I got to tour the bull housing area, actually one of the covered parking structures. Though the railings holding these beasts in looked a little tentative to me, no one made a break for it and I even got to scratch one on his nose (through the rails, I'm not crazy or stupid!).

My tour was given by stock manager Cody Lambert and stock contractor Chad Berger. I got to see some of the big name bulls. Above I believe is Big Tex, Slapdown and Little Yellow Jacket, looking bored to see us. As opposed to some of their comrades who warily kept a very safe distance from the crowd tiptoeing through the manure-strewn aisle between the pens. Only one of the bulls pictured below dared cross the invisible line drawn in the sand. The rest stood like statues for the entire tour.

After the tour we had lunch at Bubba's BBQ. Fabulous and we sat next to some of biggest names in the PBR. I got brave and gave them my LET'S BUCK stickers. They looked at me like I had 3 heads so yeah, I feel like an idiot. Sigh…lesson learned.

Anyway…tonight I volunteer again at the Rider's Relief Fund booth on the concourse outside the arena. We are selling chances to win VIP Chute Seats to benefit this very worthy not for profit. Then later more bull riding. And tomorrow, we do it again for the final event here in Uncasville.

Seriously Sensual BlogTalkRadio

September 24th, 7 PM ET I'll be joining Seriously Sensual on Blog Talk Radio.

If you can't make it live, don't worry, the show is podcast.

Is it time to buck yet? PBR Uncasville!

I'm back from the Authors After Dark Romance Convention and 2 days later, finally out from under the backlog of work that accumulated while I was off having fun. It was a hell of an event and I loved speaking on the panels, hanging with the readers and my fellow authors, making new friends, seeing old ones, and getting to know the book bloggers, booksellers, publishers–everyone!! Too much fun, too little sleep, but it was a great time.

Me and Eliza Gayle at the AAD signing

And now back to...

Authors After Dark

Heard at my house at oh-dark-thirty (specificially 4:30 a.m. this morning).

Husband: "What's this scary looking blonde wig doing here?"

Me: "That's for Eliza Gayle's costume for AAD."

Husband: "I thought some strange new cat had crawled in."

Even in my sleep deprived state, or perhaps because of it, I broke out into hysterical laughter–the kind that keeps creeping back up on you out of nowhere even after you think it's done.

So yes, the point of this post is that the Authors After Dark Reader...

Labor Day Weekend Cat News

JACK is holding as the #1 best seller at My Bookstore and More for the 3rd straight day (YAY! Thank you, readers!)

THAT is exciting enough in itself, but on top of that, tomorrow UNRIDDEN releases in print and tonight is my live reading at Lady Jane's Salon in NYC (at Madame X's on W Houston St).

UNRIDDEN PAPERBACK AT AMAZON.COM

And finally, the amateur bull rider I sponsor, Alvin Morris, took 2nd place at Drumright this weekend. Even better, no stitches required this week. Congrats to Alvin!
...

Word Perfect

As a writer, I can't help but appreciate the talents of other writers. Writing books and writing songs is very different, maybe that's why I have such respect for songwriters. Songwriters convey, in an incredibly small amount of time, entire stories.

Ask any writer of books how they feel about writing short stories and you'll likely hear groans of the difficulties of building characters and a compelling plot in a small amount of words. I guarantee you, songs have less words than most short...

JACK Hit #1!

Yes, the best seller sales ranks at My Bookstore and More change hourly, and there is a good chance that my time at the top is fleeting, but for now, I am proud to say that JACK (Red, Hot & Blue, Book 2) is the #1 best seller sitewide at MBaM!

Thank you to all the readers who made it happen!

Cat