Christa Tomlinson's Blog, page 8

Cover Reveal: A Sniper's Devotion

It’s time for one of my favorite parts of the publishing process: Cover Reveal! The cover for A Sniper’s Devotion officially debuted yesterday on the Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy Blog. But today I’m sharing it for the first time on my own blog.
Available November 7th
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Officer Hector Castillo, a sniper on Houston’s elite SWAT team, is content living alone as a perpetual bachelor. But when he opens up his small apartment to a friend in need, their close quarters awaken long suppressed desires Hector can’t help but acknowledge.
Miguel Delgado’s unfortunate detour down a road he never intended to travel ends in a big wake up call, but he vows to get himself back on track. Though he’s always looked up to Hector, Miguel isn’t a kid with hero-worship anymore, and his schoolyard protector has matured into a strong and caring man – who happens to look damn sexy in his SWAT uniform.
Though their physical attraction to each other is undeniable, Hector and Miguel try hard to resist and protect their friendship. Until one night changes everything…  

A Sniper’s Devotion is a loving and sexy, friends to lovers erotic romance. Hector and Miguel’s story is part of the Cuffs, Collars and Love series, but it is a stand-alone novel.
Isn’t he gorgeous? This is of course Hector Castillo, the cocky sniper from my SWAT team in the Cuffs, Collars & Love world. When it came time to choose a cover model, I narrowed it down to three guys. Then I was stuck! So, I took to all of my social media accounts and put up a poll to help me choose our Hector. By the end of the day, Mr. Smoochy – that’s what we nicknamed him – had run away with it.

And I have to say, now that he’s on the cover, I think he’s perfect. I’m happy. But I’m also sad. This is the last book in the CC&L series! No more SWAT for the foreseeable future. I’m getting all teary-eyed and nostalgic when I think back to that first email I sent to Melody Simmons with the details for a cover for The Sergeant. I love what she came up with. Simple, dark and sexy.

I originally didn’t have any plans to write a book for Hector, and when I first created the character, I thought he was straight. But as the series went on, he jumped off the page, becoming more and more developed in my mind every time he was in a scene. I loved the back and forth banter he had with Clay and his connection with Ryan. This scene from The Detective's Pleasure is the very moment where I accepted the fact that Hector needed his own book and a boyfriend.
You see in my head, Hector had a bit of a secret crush on Ryan. It wouldn’t go anywhere of course, Hector respects Ryan’s relationship with the detective. And Ryan wasn’t the man that would get Hector to acknowledge his attraction to men. Miguel on the other hand… Miguel Delgado is my cutie-patootie. I just love him and want to give him cuddles. Hector thinks he’s adorable too. And that’s why he can’t resist him.

Ah! I’m so excited for you to read this book. A Sniper’s Devotion is a little softer and sweeter than both Logan and Clay’s and Ryan and Sam’s stories. But as I’ve already learned, each couple has their own story to tell and I can’t force them to fit into a mold.

A Sniper’s Devotion releases November 7th and is now available for pre-order. Between now and then, I’ll have lots of giveaways and readings and book release related giddiness, so be sure to check my site often and follow me on all my various social media.

Oh, what’s that? You want a giveaway for this post? Fiiiine. ;-) Comment below with one thing you like about the CC&L series. One lucky and randomly drawn winner will receive a bit of A Sniper’s Devotion cover art swag. Sadly, I can’t show it to you because it’s not here yet. But trust me, it’s cool.  

Okay, I’m leaving you now with an excerpt, a Goodreads link so you can add Hector & Miguel to your TBR and pre-order links. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

EXCERPT FROM A SNIPER'S DEVOTION
Miguel looked up again as Hector came back out of his bedroom wearing a pair of gray sweats and nothing else. He pressed a little harder with the iron than he needed to when he saw that bare torso. It just wasn't fair how much he loved Hector's chest. Miguel wanted to lie across that broad expanse while Hector played in his hair like he had their one night of shared intimacy.

He could just imagine it. They'd both be sated from sex, Hector's golden skin gleaming with sweat from his exertions. And Hector would be gentle and teasing as Miguel came down from his orgasmic high.

His fantasy was on the verge of spiraling out of control when Hector sat on the couch, legs slightly spread. Miguel almost burned himself with the iron. He was ninety-nine point nine percent sure Hector wasn't wearing any underwear. Or if he was, they had to be a very loose pair of boxers. Because Miguel could see…everything. The round outline of his balls and the length of his shaft that Miguel knew would be even longer if he were aroused were plainly visible.

The sight was as enticing as the devil holding a bucketful of the sweetest candy. As a dental assistant, Miguel knew candy was bad for him. Just like staring at Hector's dick was bad for him. Miguel felt like he'd dodged a bullet as he determinedly looked down at the scrubs he was ironing. After seeing Hector lounging in sweats sans underwear, he was more thankful than ever that he'd made the decision to leave his best friend's bed.

(You bet your ass I wrote a forced to share a bed trope scene)

Love,
Christa

Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
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Making Time for Reading

“I don’t really read anymore.” I’ve seen several writers say this. And every time, readers and other writers gasp in outrage. HOW can you be a writer if you don’t read?! And I gotta say, I understand the confusion. It’s weird to think of writers not reading. I couldn’t imagine being that writer. Until it happened to me.
My face when writers say they don't read.

The more I write, the less I read. And that’s not to say I don’t read at all. I do. But I don’t read nearly as much as I used to. It’s partly because there are so many other ways to occupy my free time these days. There are a billion and one things to binge on Netflix and HULU. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a new movie every week. My dogs want to go outside for walks. And Twitter has some sort of unholy hold on my attention span.

But the other part of it is that I spend so much time in my head, coming up with plot bunnies, outlining, and actually writing, that when I do have free time books are no longer the first thing I reach for. I sort of feel like I need to take a break from the pictures in my head – and yes when I read I do see it as scenes in my head – and let someone else do the work of entertaining me. Hence, the Netflix bingeing. Also, I tend to write so late into the day, that when I settle down in bed or on the couch to read, guess what happens. If you guessed I fall asleep and wake up hours later with my face smushed under my Nook, you guessed right.

Or, I’ll sit down to read and then remember that I have to answer an email or approve a cover or update my website or write a blurb or drop a giveaway prize off at the post office or, or or. So much to do! And all of it takes away from my reading time.

But I still love reading! That won’t ever go away. Except now, I have to purposely make time for it. I started Saturday Relax Day a few weeks back as a way to stop working for one day out of the week. I fell into a pretty unhealthy habit of working and writing seven days a week. No wonder I was so stressed!

Giving myself that day to chill and do something fun means I have dedicated time to read. I spent this past Saturday reading comic books. (Check out Marvel’s Iceman. I believe it is their first major LGBT character with his own series) Next week I’m going to dive into one of the unread titles waiting for me on my Nook. My Goodreads status update has shown I’m reading Sam B. Morgan’s Love By Design for about three months now, so I’ll read that one first.
Since I’ve been a binge reader for practically my entire life, it probably won’t take me long to fall back into the habit. I’m just glad I noticed how far away I’d drifted from my true love before it got too out of hand!

So for all those writers out there who say they don’t read anymore, I understand where you’re coming from now. I feel your pain and I hope you can get back into the habit. Writers, have you noticed this happening to you? And readers, what do you think? Do you hate me now for admitting I don’t read as much as I used to? I’m still one of you, I promise! So when I come knocking at the club house door, asking for book recs, be kind and let me in.

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa

P.S. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter. This month I have a giveaway for An Officer’s Submission swag and a look at Cuffs, Collars and Love #5: Hector’s Story.
 
Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
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Book IV of the Cuffs, Collars and Love series is now available.
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Big Bang! Writing for Fandom & Fun

I was in a big bang! And no that’s not a supersized gang bang, ya pervs. For those of you who already know what a fandom big bang is bear with me for a moment. A big bang is a fandom event that will lead to an explosion in fan content, most usually fanart and fanfiction.

In a big bang, writers submit summaries of the story they plan to write. The big bang organizer collects and lists them for artists to review. The artists then go through and pick which story they’d like to illustrate. The organizer pairs up the artists and writers and assigns posting dates. The artists and writers collaborate. Then bang! The posting schedule begins, and tons of fics and art for a fandom are uploaded.

These days the popular sites to use are Archive of Our Own (AO3) and Tumblr. (A reverse big bang is when artists post their images and a writer writes for it – this is similar to the MM Goodreads Group Don’t Read in the Closet Event).

The big bang I just participated in was for the ship Sheith, Shiro and Keith from my current obsession Voltron: Legendary Defender. It was organized by Caustically, an amazingly patient and productive event leader. My artist was CatfishDraws. They were a joy to work with. They created three pieces when I was only expecting one.

Now, you’re probably wondering why I participated in this event since I’m already a published author. Well, one of my goals for 2017 was to get back to writing fanfiction. I made this a goal for a very important reason. I wanted to write for fun. I wanted to write and share stories without any pressure on promoting or worrying about reviews and sales. The fun of coming up with ideas for fanfic, playing with characters that I love, and interacting with others in a fandom is a great way for me to relax and maintain my love for writing.

Fanfic writing is also a way for me to try out some new ideas. An earlier fic I wrote for this ship was in the ABO/omegaverse trope. I tried it, liked it and now I want to write some omegaverse for publication in the future.

For the Sheith Big Bang 2K17, I wanted to write a ridiculously over the top, tropey and dramatic romance. I did, and I had fun doing it. I dreamed up a world where people with careers in the arts are mostly dependent upon Patrons in order to financially sustain themselves. The idea came of course from the system of patronage during the Renaissance, where poets, musicians, etc. would receive meals and a place to stay from the upper class in exchange for entertaining them with their songs and stories.

I was also influenced by a book I read a long time ago. I’ve tried to remember the title or author but it just won’t come to mind. In the story, there was a young ballerina in Russia. After her first performance, there was an aristocrat who was interested in having her as his mistress. The ballerina wasn’t having it. But the director of the ballet company basically told the dancer to hustle and make them dollas, and sent her out to be whisked away by the count.
Eventually the dancer winds up emigrating to the US and has a granddaughter who achieves the ballet fame that she was unable to. It was one of those Jackie Collins type romances. If you know it, send me the title and I’ll give you a present to show my appreciation. It’s not Zoya by Danielle Steel, that much I know.

So yeah, dramatic and tropey was what I wanted to write. Here’s the summary for Dancer In Blue:

In the year 3217, America is no more. The nation has been renamed Altea and divided into regions and territories controlled by wealthy families. The arts have also changed. In order to survive, artists need the support of a Patron. Painters, dancers, writers and musicians enter into contracts with the powerful and wealthy Elite. They agree to share their time, their talents, and their bodies with a Patron. In exchange, they are provided with money, favors and social status.

Keith, a ballet dancer, despises this practice. Though he is desired by many, he refuses to sell himself to any Patron, and is determined to make it on his own. The only man he will give his passion to is one who has earned and inspired it. Not one who pays for it with cold cash and pretty gifts. He remains alone, until he meets corporate accountant Shiro. The attraction between the two men is immediate, real and undeniable. Keith is happy, having finally found someone he can love, someone who isn’t a despised Patron.

But Shiro is hiding a secret. And secrets always come to light. Will their relationship survive once the truth is revealed? Or will the fire of Keith’s betrayed fury burn their love to the ground?

I’m telling you, as I was writing I could practically hear the Falcon’s Crest theme song playing in my head. I had so much fun with this fic!

Another part of the big bang I enjoyed was interacting with the other writers. These guys are the people who will be writing the books we’ll be reading in the future. And the artists will be the ones illustrating comics and animating TV shows. It was nice to chat and give them a quick message of encouragement to keep going when they’re stressing over their writing, and reminisce about being that awkward and stressed. Lol j/k I’m still awkward and stressed over my writing.

My fic is posted now and you are welcome to check it out HERE on Archive of Our Own. While you’re there, check out the rest of the Sheith 2K17 Collections tag and see what some of our emerging and/or unpublished writers are coming up with.

You can also swing by my Pinterest and take a look at the mood board I created for this story HERE. Lots of beautiful dancers, art deco theatre design and gorgeous East Asian muses. And of course I have to share the art created by CatFishDraws. You can check out more of their work on their Tumblr.
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Christa

Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
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Book IV of the Cuffs, Collars and Love series is now available.
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Authors Promote! (Even When the World Is Scary)

Authors don’t promo right now! It’s insensitive! I see this come down my timeline every time there is a major news event. But I gotta tell ya. I think telling authors not to promote is what’s insensitive. Let me break it down why authors shouldn’t be guilted into abandoning their promotional efforts when our timelines are a mess.

1) There’s been something dire happening with regularity for over a year now. 2016 was a dumpster fire. We all know it. I’ve never seen a society so eager to see the ass end of a year than I did last year. But hey, guess what? 2017 has been pretty rough too.

Soooo... When are we supposed to fit our promo in? That one Wednesday in the middle of the month where it seems like it’s going to be quiet for a few hours? When there’s a steady stream of crap, sometimes authors just have to put on our boots, wade in, and let that crap flow around us as we hold up our virtual billboards.

2) We’re not psychic. And we don’t plan our promo with only thirty minutes lead notice. Once we finish a book we work out a promo plan, book blog tours, decide on cover reveal dates and when to share excerpts. We do all of that weeks in advance.

Guess what happens if we just chuck it all to the side because the circus sideshow that is our country right now decides to put on another center ring act? No one knows about our book, which means no one buys our book, which means we don’t make any money.

Not to mention, if we’ve already booked a tour somewhere, we can’t just call ‘em up and say, “Hey! Can you hold my posts please? The world’s gone to shit again and I want to wait until the skies are clear.” Nothing doing there, my friend. Blogs and other promo sites have their own schedules to keep.

3) It's unfair to pick and choose which events are worthy/shocking/painful enough for taking a day off from promo. What’s important and sad for one person, might not be as much of an issue for others. I was sitting at my day job desk when I heard Prince died. My co-worker was unbothered. I had to get up and go in the bathroom to cry. And those roles have been reversed or shared depending on who or what is happening. I won’t get into the attention given to Western events versus non-Western. But suffice it to say, every celebrity death, political event, and social disaster touches each of us differently.

4) You are literally telling authors not to go to work. Which makes no sense. Do TVs stop airing ads for clothes, beer or new trucks? No, those ads are booked and paid for in advance and they are played regardless of what’s going on in the world.

McDonald’s doesn’t dim the light on the golden arches, Wal-Mart doesn’t shut their registers down (even though they probably only had two open) and Barnes & Noble doesn’t drape a cloth over all the books they have on display. Commerce continues. Besides, don’t you think it would be weird if authors started posting and telling other people to stay home from their jobs until the latest tragedy was over?

5) We are already awkward enough with promo. Shaming us for doing something that most of us don’t care for but is absolutely necessary for us to make any money just makes us feel even more awkward and uncomfortable. Why do you want to hurt me when I just want to bring you a good story?

6) Speaking of good stories. Sometimes we need that, ya know? On days where my timeline is filled with post after post and tweet after tweet of the latest atrocity, it’s nice to come by something that is off the subject of the moment. Whether it’s a puppy wearing a funny hat, a smoking hot person for me to drool over, or promo for a book that I can read to give me a break from watching the world burn, I want to see it.

Call it self-care, call it guilty pleasure, call it whatever you want. The point is, looking at awfulness all day is mentally draining so allow us authors to brighten your day for a moment with a pretty book cover and a catchy blurb.

So as you can see there are plenty of reasons to cut us authors some slack for doing promo when there’s yet another kerfluffle going on.

Authors, I will say this. It’s important to read the room and maybe sometimes adjust the tone. Or even acknowledge that there is an issue happening and share your thoughts or sympathy. And obviously this post doesn’t apply if there is a MAJOR EVENT. I won’t give any examples because I don’t want to speak a tragedy into existence. But other than that, we gotta do work.
Now, with all that being said, I have a .99 book sale! Bad Boys Need Love Too is on sale for .99 until this Sunday. You can also get Bad Boys Need Love Too: Nate and Bad Boys Need Love Too: Max, two novellas in the series for only $2.99 each. Authors, feel free to drop your promo in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa
Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
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Bad Boys Need Love Too on sale for .99 at Amazon, B&N, Kobo and Apple
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B&N.COM   KOBO  APPLE
Amazon French Translation

A Look Back at Bad Boys Need Love Too

As you may have seen, I currently have a .99 sale going on for my 2014 novel Bad Boys Need Love Too. Thanks to the sale, I’ve been thinking a lot about the story. I went back and browsed through some of the Amazon reviews for Gage and Joseph, and I burst into tears when I saw this:

***Thank you Christa for incorporating wonderful, three dimensional characters of *people-of-color*, into this exceptionally well written series. I have enjoyed all three books. Joseph, Max and Kevin were characters that made this *sista* proud, happy and thankful to spend time with. These interracial romances were handled magnificently and lacked NOTHING.***

You may have read my previous post, where I talked about the hurt and annoyance that the romance genre is so slow to get out of the homogenous state it has long been in. And also how I was worried about putting out a series with multicultural characters. So seeing that comment made me feel really good inside. I’m so pleased that I made another woman of color reader happy with my multicultural cast.
Another review I saw made me laugh with happiness. There is A LOT of sex in Bad Boys Need Love Too. And one reader really understood why. There were lots of readers/reviews who understood as well, this one just made me chuckle:
There is A LOT of sex in this book - graphic, HOT sex - but it didn't seem too much because, Hello - one of them is a Sex Addict!
The reviewer is right. Gage is a sex addict. It’s how he handles his issues – anger in particular. Gage and Joseph have sex for lots of reasons throughout Bad Boys Need Love Too, and it’s not always just about feeling good. That is their arc. We’re having sex, but why? What are we trying to say to each other while we’re tangled up in these sheets/rolling around on the floor? How do we get from banging our brains out to having an emotionally mature relationship?

It’s a rough ride for them (puns intended) as they figure it out. And every time I see a reviewer who understands that it makes me smile. I feel as though I’m looking at them through the screen like, you get me!
When a reviewer feels where I'm coming from.
So I had a lovely little trip down memory lane for Gage and Joseph. If you haven’t read their story you should totally check it out. If you have read it, comment with a picture of the cover on your e-reader and I’ll send you a Bad Boys Need Love Too cover art key chain. 
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Christa
Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub
View my titles on Amazon
Sign up for my Newsletter

Bad Boys Need Love Too on sale for .99 at Amazon, B&N, Kobo and Apple
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/yajq9x3s
Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/y9yws66d
Amazon CA: http://tinyurl.com/y8kaaz3q
B&N: http://tinyurl.com/yafemrfo
Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/y7v4rkoe
Apple: http://tinyurl.com/y7y8oa3a
Amazon French Translation: http://tinyurl.com/y8cvk4kw
 
Don’t miss Bad Boys Need Love Too: Nate and Bad Boys Need Love Too: Max, novellas in the complete Bad Boys Need Love Too series. Visit their pages for blurbs and excerpts.

Saturday Morning Fangirl: Voltron

*The adults are talking. 18+ fans only on this blog and site. Thanks!
Five days from now, I’ll be settling down with a delicious snack and a fizzy beverage, ready to binge season 3 of Voltron: Legendary Defender. What is Voltron, you say? Oh, honey. *deep breath* It’s this super cool show where five teens are drawn into a space battle to fight the evil lord Zarkon from taking over the universe using magical robot space cats that combine into one awesome robot named Voltron! If you’re an 80’s kid like me, you probably watched or at least know of the US version that aired back in 84. Fun fact about me: my little brother had a Voltron bed spread and I was jealous because I wanted it instead of the Strawberry Shortcake one I was stuck with.

This current version of Voltron is produced by DreamWorks Animation and broadcast on Netflix. I started watching it last summer, not expecting to care much about it. Mostly because I tried to watch the 2011 version and was not impressed.

With Legendary Defender, showrunners Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim do Santos have helped create a series that’s easy to fall in love with. Before I realized it, I’d watched the whole series. As soon as I was done I sent off for my Voltron Fangirl Badge. Okay, there isn’t really a badge. But if there was one I’d own it.

Since I love the show so much, I want to talk about it. So I figure, why not start a blog series where I nerd-girl out over all my favorite shows, movies and fandoms? I think it’ll be cool. But before I dive into the complexities of the show, I’ll give a little background. This week I give you: TOP SIX REASONS TO WATCH VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER.

1. The animation is done by Studio Mir, the same folks who worked on Legend of Korra. I haven’t watched LOK yet, but I have seen how beautiful the show is. Voltron is just as gorgeous. The Black Paladin (S1.11) is one of my favorite episodes. In my opinion, it has some of the most gorgeously animated scenes from any of the shows I watch.
My artist friend Sam (check out her amazing work HERE) pointed out the CGI effects on some of Voltron’s battle scenes when I convinced her to watch a few episodes with me. They’re pretty dope too.

2. The voice actors are amazing. Neil Kaplan is absolutely stellar as Lord Zarkon. I’ll never understand how he gets his voice that low and controlled. Cree Summers kills it as Haggar. She’s so eeeeeevil. And her scream as she cast a spell at the end of season one is one of my favorite sounds. I didn’t even know I had favorite sounds until I heard that scream.

Josh Keaton – absolute sweetheart of a human – voices Takashi Shirogane. I love the strength he gives to Shiro’s voice and crack up at his dry tone when he’s on the verge of losing his patience. And Steven Yeun has done such a wonderful job as Keith that I don’t know who I love more, the character or Steven. Like, I think if I were ever allowed to sit in on Steven voicing Keith I would just look at him like this the whole time: *Voice Actor side note. Norman Reedus does a guest appearance as one of the aliens in S1. So you get a fun little moment of Daryl and Glenn battling each other in space. I like to imagine that Steven and Norman hugged it out once they were finished recording. Then they both cried because they miss Glenn.
3. Strong female characters! Princess Allura is basically the general of the team. What I like about her are the many facets to her personality. She’s vulnerable and unsure of herself. She also steps up and does the damn thing when it’s time to be the leader.

She playfully allows the mice to do her hair in crazy styles then fearlessly takes on the enemy in ship-to-ship or even hand-to-hand combat. It is wonderful seeing a character who is unashamedly feminine yet also tough and in charge. We also have evil genius Haggar. She’s a powerful force in the Galra Empire. And – cover your eyes if you don’t want to be spoiled – Pidge/Katie Holt rocks it as a paladin. She’s smart in both technology and strategy. Even more awesome, none of the paladins treat her any differently because she’s a she. And teensy spoiler: LOTOR'S GENERALS.

4. Do you ship? Well if you do, this show has a multitude of shipping choices for you. You can go old school and ship Keith and Allura. You can go best friends to lovers with Lance and Hunk or enemies to lovers with Keith and Lance.

Or you can join me, Shiro and Keith on Team Sheith (the best ship ?) if you love angst and hidden backstories. (I’ll talk more about shipping, fandom wars and age discourse in a later post). Or go wild and multi-ship. There’s lots of choices and loads of gorgeous fanart and amazing fanfics to suit whatever floats your boat.

5. It’s very well-written. Voltron isn’t your standard monster of the week cartoon. There is a long-game story arc to the show. The characters have backstories and motivations. There’s struggle and loss, humor and fun. The show even does a great job in depicting a character with PTSD who is still able to step up and lead the team.

6. People of Color representation! Not only is Allura a strong female character, she’s also a Brown Girl! She’s an alien race so we can’t assign any particular ethnicity to her but it is lovely to see someone with a darker skin tone taking charge. In addition, you have Lance who is Cuban and Hunk who is Samoan. These ethnicities aren’t technically canon as I believe they were only confirmed by the voice actors. But they do have markedly tan skin tones so I’ll take it.
Keith is racially ambiguous. He has black hair and pale skin which doesn’t tell us much. But he was Korean in prior versions of the show, so maybe that will carry over to this version. And of course, there’s Takashi Shirogane. His name and facial features identify him as Japanese. More on him next week.

So, there you have it! A lovely list of reasons to convince you to give Voltron a try. Give it a watch then stay tuned to chat with me about the show in future blog posts. Seasons 1 and 2 are currently up on Netflix. Season 3 drops August 4th. (You can’t hear it, but I’m making squealy fan girl noises of excitement). If you have any comments or questions about the show, things you want me to discuss, or suggestions for S3 binge snacks let me know in the comments. ?
 
Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa
Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub
View my titles on Amazon
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Book IV of the Cuffs, Collars and Love series is now available.
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Book Piracy! How to Get Free Books Without Becoming a Book Pirate

Book pirates. No, these aren’t guys and gals in flowing, open-necked white shirts sailing the high seas with books tucked into their sashes instead of a cutlass. Book pirates are people who take copies of books and illegally upload them to be shared on the internet. Every few months, there’s a new internet explosion as authors find out about a site or group that is hosting their books for free and without their permission.

There are a couple of author schools of thought on book piracy. Some authors despise it, and go after every site they come across that has their book with a request that they be taken down. There are even services that authors can use that will do the work for them. Other authors feel that it’s not worth the hassle and pretend they don’t see the online sharing.

For the people who host the pirate sites, they rationalize it as free publicity. They feel a reader would never have heard of an author if they didn’t see the pirated book and now that they’ve read it for free, they’ll go and buy it and an author’s back list if they like it. I’m not sure I buy this theory. I know people who have scads of free music on their musical playing devices. If that’s the case, why would they bother to buy music? I have a feeling the same holds true for pirated books.

On the reader side, many feel that they should get free books because they can’t afford to buy them. On the one hand, I feel your pain. When you’re a voracious book worm, that $3.99 habit can add up fast. But on the other … if you were low on funds and you really, really wanted to see a movie you wouldn’t go into a theater to see it without paying. And if you did, you’d have to be sneaky and pray you didn’t get caught because you know you’re stealing. Same thing applies to books. It’s just easier to get away with the sneaking online because there aren’t any movie theater staff watching to make sure you came in the front door with a ticket.

Unfortunately, books aren’t always valued as worthy of paying to read. Part of the problem is, many people don’t understand the labor and cost that goes into producing a book. Never fear, your Friendly Neighborhood Author is here to break that down.

First, let’s cover the labor. Let’s say an author has a 60,000 word book and they write at a rate of 500 words per hour. If we give that author minimum wage for their labor, they would make $870. But wait, they also have to edit the book. If they do it in two weeks working the typical eight-hour work day, that’s $580 in wages. A week of rewrites would net $290 and three days of proofing earns $174. That’s $1,194 that the author needs to recoup in book sales in order to pay themselves. (I’m over simplifying this to umm… keep it simple. Also, complicated math makes me itch)

After the book is written, come the costs that a self-pubbed author has to pay out of pocket. First, the editor. That’s probably going to be about $600. For a book to be taken seriously, a professional cover design and a few graphics to advertise the book are necessary. Lowball price for that is $300. If an author isn’t tech savvy and can’t do the book formatting on their own, they’ll have to hire someone. That’s $150. A promotional book blog tour is helpful to get the word out, so we’ll need to add another $150. Ads on relevant sites? That’ll be about $70 each. Now if we add all that up to the author’s wages and carry the one, it comes out to about $3,384.00.

So! As you can see it is not free for authors to produce a book. Yes, the final uploading to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, etc. is free, but before we get to that point we’ve already shelled out a few buckaroos. And authors need sales in order to cover those costs and hopefully make a little profit.

Okay, so maybe after reading this, people might feel a little bad for taking free books, but still aren’t able to pay for them. Well, my friend, don’t despair! I’ve got a Top Ten List of Ways You Can Get Free Books. Wait, no. I couldn’t think of ten things. I’ve got a Top Eight List of Ways You Can Get Free Books!

1) Become a reviewer! There are sites like The Romance Reviews, Romance Studio and blogs like Two Chicks With Books & Eye Candy that are often looking for reviewers. You get a free book, and in exchange you’re required to write a book report. It doesn’t have to be as in-depth as a New York Times review. Just state what you liked and/or didn’t like about the book and try to keep it spoiler-free.

2) Join an author’s ARC group! Most authors have opportunities for a core group of fans to get a copy of their latest in advance of release. In exchange, they ask you to post a review to sites like Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

3) Swing by Goodreads and sign up for book giveaways. I have lots of books on my Goodreads TBR list. Whenever there is a giveaway for one, Goodreads sends me a little notification. I sign up, and one day I’m going to win!

4) Shoot on over to Library Thing and do the same thing. Library thing is a little harder to navigate. But they do allow ebook giveaways, so that makes it easier for authors to give away more copies of their book babies.

5) Join a genre ARC group. In these groups, authors come in, state what their book is about and how many they’re giving away. If you’re selected, you get a free book and in exchange you write and post a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

6) Volunteer as a beta reader. Lots of authors periodically call for beta readers to help them out. What does a beta reader do? They read for the author, giving them their perspective on the book as a fan of the genre. Their role is not to be an editor, but to let the author know what did and didn’t work for them about the story. Some authors just ask for a read and general feedback. Others (*cough* me *cough*) have handy-dandy sheets that break down the things they’re looking for feedback on.

7) Go to the library. I know what you’re thinking. A lot of self-published books aren’t available through library systems. But some are. And if they aren’t there, you know what would be cool? Asking the library to carry them. If librarians know there’s an interest in a genre and/or author they might make more of an effort to get those books. I know I was ecstatic when I saw that Alexis Hall’s ebooks were available through the Harris County Public Library system.

8) Join Facebook groups, Like authors’ pages, and sign up for their newsletters. These are the ways that authors usually reach out in order to give away free books. It works both as a way to build some buzz, and to say thanks to those who have become our fans.

All of those methods require a little effort on the reader’s part. But in exchange you’re getting that free book. That seems more than fair. It’s a win-win for author and reader. Reader gets the free book, author gets another review which is helpful for sales.  

For me, I don’t agree with book piracy. I’m the nerd who buys all her music from Google Play and pays to rent movies on VUDU. But, I don’t go after book pirates either. Unless it’s a huge and blatant site – then yes, I’m sending a take down notice. I want everyone to be able to read the stories that they love, but I also want authors to receive payment for their labor.

In closing, I shall put my books where my mouth is. Or however that saying goes. Go to my Giveaways Page and enter to win a copy of my latest, An Officer’s Submission. Yay! Free books! Also, feel free to share this post. And if you have additional and LEGAL ways to get free books, please add them in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa

Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
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Book IV of the Cuffs, Collars and Love series is now available.
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Happy Father's Day!

It's Father's Day! The day where all the fathers, stepdads, favorite uncles, awesome big brothers and found fathers are honored by the people who love them. For me, it's my dad, James. My childhood bestie and I affectionately nick named him Big James back in high school, because he was tall and had impressive Dad Guns from the hard work he did.

We had a few rough patches when I went through my obnoxious I know everything late-teens phase, but he's always been there for me. He supports me in my writing, whether it's financially, or listening to me drone on about the process of self-publishing. We're a lot alike in many ways. Introverted, short-tempered and stubborn. And we'll do anything we can to help the people we care about. But we're also really different. I love curling up on the couch with a good book for hours. He can't sit still long enough to make it past chapter one.

Whenever I'm home visiting and I whip out a notebook to jot some ideas down, he always shakes his head and says, "I just don't see how you come up with these stories." It cracks me up every time. Of course, once he blew my mind when he added, "I guess it's like a movie playing in your head." Yes! It's so like that!
My dad in the early eighties.
Big James is funny (especially when he's acting out something one of us kids did to get in trouble), can fix anything, can build most things and has far more patience than I could ever imagine myself having. He's a great dad and I'm super lucky to have him.

Happy Father's Day to my dad, and all the other people who have played an important fatherly role in someone's life!

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa

Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
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Book IV of the Cuffs, Collars and Love series is now available.
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An Honest Answer for an Honest Question

“You’re black. Why do you write about white people?” I’ve been asked this question in one form or another by several people, both white and black. I can answer that question in photographic form.
Let me break down my photographic evidence. When you go into Barnes and Noble and head to the romance section, the vast majority of the books feature Caucasian characters. But wait, who’s that down there in the bottom of the last picture?
Oh hi, Ms. Beverly Jenkins! I’m so glad she’s there. And a few spaces over is Brenda Jackson. Both wonderful authors who are responsible for giving me hope for myself and my characters. But yikes, out of all those rows of books only two authors of color featuring main characters of color. Apparently, that’s B&N’s quota. That pretty much answers the “why do you write about white people?” question. But keep reading, because change is a comin’.

Romance has always been my favorite genre. I’d go to the library, thrift shops, and later when I had my own money, to the bookstore, always looking for new romance titles to read. And those titles nearly always featured Caucasian characters. As an adolescent reading romance, I just assumed those were the only characters that were published.

I remember the first time I came across a romance with a black hero and heroine. I was in high school, and it was one of those contemporary Harlequin type books, maybe Kimani or Arabesque. I immediately checked it out and was excited to read. But boy was I disappointed when I got to the end. The main characters both ended up scarred and paralyzed because of a horrible car accident.

I didn’t get it. All the romances I’d read up to that point ended with the scrappy village girl married to the duke and she gave him adorable babies and became a well-loved chatelaine of the manor or whatever. Not once did any of them have something so harsh happen to them. At that young age, I thought the book was saying that black heroines didn’t get the perfect happy ending. It hurt, and it turned me off from reading any more from that line for a long time.

That’s not to say there weren’t any books by black authors and featuring black characters. There are. But in book stores, books featuring African American characters are usually African American lit, which isn’t romance. And even if they aren’t AA lit, they are all lumped together in the African American section by themselves away from romance.

That’s not what I wanted. I wanted to read romance. When I started writing, I wanted to write romance. And I wanted my books to be grouped with all the rest of the romance novels. So when I wrote my first little novella, I wrote white characters. Based off what I’d seen of publishing so far, I assumed that’s what I had to do in order to be published where I wanted to be published.

When I wrote my second book, I was still in that mind-set even though I was self-publishing. Why? Swing by Amazon’s best seller page for romance and check it out. Or I can just tell you. The majority of the books feature white cover models. You have to specifically type in African American romance in order to get black characters. Am I wrong for just wanting to be in the freaking general romance category?

I got away from that mind-set a little bit when I wrote the Bad Boys series. Each of those books features a POC hero. Joseph is Persian, Kevin is biracial (with black and white parents) and Max is black. Each of those books features the “bad boy” of the pairing on the cover. Of the three bad boys, Max is the only one of color. And let me tell you, there was some fear that Max wouldn’t sell as well because there was a black man on the front of the book.
Why did I have that fear? Well, let’s just say I have seen on more than one occasion, a reader saying something along the lines of “I can’t relate to a black character.” Also, whether consciously or not, readers sometimes pass over books that feature a non-white character on the cover. And again, I’ll refer you back to the Barnes & Noble shelves and Amazon Best Seller pages.

Thankfully, my fear was unfounded. Readers loved Max. And he made it to the Best Seller page for his category on his release day. Yay! That proved to me that many readers are happy to read a story that interests them, regardless of the race of the character. Double yay!

Now that I’ve been doing this for a couple of years, I’ve gotten over those fears. And to be honest I don’t care anymore. I’m not going to erase my own ethnicity and ignore others because people might not buy my books. If someone chooses not to read a story because of the race of the character, that’s their issue. Not mine. And I know that regardless of what the Barnes and Noble shelves show, there IS a market for romance novels featuring every kind of race or ethnicity. But that was something that I had to learn and accept on my own.

Going forward, I have two Mexican American heroes, Hector and Miguel, in my next book. And the majority of the books that I have planned after that feature at least one main character who is a person of color. My characters will be black, Latino, white, Pacific Islander and more. And they’ll be chosen based on the story that needs to be told, not on an out of date system set up by the Big Five Publishers.

Publishing needs to change. It’s starting now, with authors and readers alike pushing for more diversity. And in m/m there are some great books featuring POC characters that readers are happily devouring. It’s wonderful that it’s begun, but the change won’t happen overnight. We all – and yes, I include myself in this – need to realize why it’s important to have a multitude of races and ethnicities in our books. Think of pre-teen me, a scrawny little dark-skin girl loving to read romance, but assuming that she could never be the girl who got the HEA because she never saw herself represented.

So maybe next time you’re scrolling through Amazon looking for a new read, type multicultural romance or African American romance into the search bar and try out whatever catches your eye. Your sale just might be the one that helps an author get her multicultural book pushed into a slot where more readers can see it.

Need help finding multicultural romance? Try these great resources!
Women of Color In Romance
Romance Novels in Color
Multicultural M/M Romance List

Want to read more on this topic? Check out this beautifully written post and excellent discussion thread from 2013: An Open Letter to Harlequin.
 
Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa

Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub
View my titles on Amazon
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Book IV of the Cuffs, Collars and Love series is now available.
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Cuffs, Collars & Love #5: Sunday Sneak Peek

It’s time for another Sneak Peek! I’m close to finishing Book five in the Cuffs, Collars and Love series. If you read An Officer’s Submission, there was a flashing sign hint on who the next story would feature. And if you guessed Hector and Miguel, you’re correct! I have a title, but I’m not one hundred percent sold on it yet. The manuscript will be sent to my editor next week and I’ll have a tentative release date and firm title after that. In the meantime, here’s your (unedited) Sunday Sneak Peek:

*****

The next morning, Miguel got up as usual to make Hector breakfast before he left for work. He was tired, he'd laid on the couch all night, but he hadn't gotten much sleep. He'd still been wide awake when Hector had returned from his drive. But he figured the other man needed his space after what happened between them, so he'd pretended to be asleep. He was hoping that this morning maybe they could talk before Hector went to work.

The bedroom door opened. Miguel nervously tightened his grip on the spatula as he listened to Hector's footsteps approach the kitchen. He took a deep breath and turned around with a bright smile on his face. "Good morning! I made pancakes. And uh, I wanted to apologize for last night."

"Don't worry about it." Hector didn't even look at Miguel as he went over to the cabinet and took down his stainless steel travel mug.

Miguel watched as he filled his cup from the pot of hot coffee. After a moment he tried again. "Do you think we should talk about what happened last night?"

A muscle jumped in Hector's jaw. "Just leave it for right now, okay?"

Miguel immediately nodded and backed off. "Okay. I made bacon too," he said unnecessarily. The bacon was there on the table, plain as day.

"No time for breakfast today. I'm running late. Call me if you need anything." Hector left without once looking at Miguel.

When he was gone, Miguel slumped against the counter. What in the hell had possessed him to give Hector a blow job? That was about the dumbest thing he could have done. Yeah, Hector had obviously been turned on and gotten off, but as far as Miguel knew, he'd lived his entire life as a straight man. Having his dick in the mouth of another dude was going to fuck with his head. By putting him in that situation, Miguel had probably ruined the friendship they'd been rebuilding. More than likely, Hector was going to come home and tell him to get his shit and get out of there.
 
*****

Yikes! What went on there? You can find out later this summer! In the meantime, catch up with the first four books in the Cuffs, Collars and Love series available in Amazon KU.

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa

Visit my website: www.ChristaTomlinson.com
Follow me around the internet! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub
View my titles on Amazon
Sign up for my Newsletter
Book IV of the Cuffs, Collars and Love series is now available.
Amazon - Amazon UK