Thea Harrison's Blog, page 38
March 7, 2012
Men Reading Romance: Meet Leon
Leon, thanks for coming to visit on my blog today! Tell me a little about yourself in a few sentences. What do you do for a living, and other than reading, what do you do for fun?
I am thirty-seven years old. I am married and have two boys. I am a facilities technician for AT&T. It is a job that requires working outside on telecommunication cables. I have to say, I am more of an occasional reader. Some other activities I enjoy are, watching sports, playing poker, darts, horseshoes, video games and watching good movies.
Leon and his wife Trish
How and when did you pick up your first romance? Was it in a sub genre (as in paranormal, thriller, contemporary etc)?
I started reading my first romance a couple of years ago. My wife, who is a huge fan of romance novels, was convinced that I would like a series that she was reading. She was very persistent, and after a bit of pestering from her, I agreed to read the first book of the series. The series was, The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward, a paranormal. I enjoyed it and continued to read seven of the nine so far in the series. I have not read any other romance novels from any other authors or series. However, my wife is convinced that she has found others she wants me to try.
Why does reading romance "click" for you? Conversely, do you find room for improvement in the genre in general (or any sub genre in specific)?
I don't know if I can say romance "clicks" for me. I did enjoy the books I have read so far. I have nothing to compare them to. The books that I read, had quite a bit of action and heroes that were into sports and clubbing as well as fighting and romance. If there are more series or books like that, I would be interested in reading them.
Who are your favorite romance authors? Non-romance authors? Can you give a percentage (just a rough off-the-top-of-your-head guess) about how much you read of each?
I have to say J.R. Ward, only because she is the only one I have read. My wife has suggested a few others that she thinks I would like. They are: You, Laura Wright and Gena Showalter. I will have to get back to you after I have expanded my library. As far as non-romance authors, I like Larry McMurtry. I have read three books by him.
If you could make a wish-list of a story you would like to read but haven't yet, what would it be?
Hmm… My mind kind of drifts to the erotic genre. I would be too embarrassed to suggest a story that I would come up with.
Since I'm approaching this as a conversation, would you like to ask me something in return?
Sure. Is it important to you and other authors in your genre to attract male readers? Or, is it more like a little bonus when some of us become fans?
ME: I can only speak for myself, but what is important to me is hearing from a part of my readership that typically doesn't speak up much or add their voices to reader discussions online. I'm pleased at the opportunity to get more acquainted.
Is there anything you would like to add?
It's funny. Since my wife suggested that I read my first romance, she has become quite a popular cover artist in the genre. Now I realize that when she wants me to read someone, it's not just some author, it's usually a friend of hers. I guess I am going to have to dust off my reading glasses and hit the books.
Thank you Thea for including me in your blog interview. I hope to talk to you again after I read one of your books. (My wife says for me to tell you, she swears it is me answering these, and she is laughing about the erotic part.)
Thank you for taking part, Leon! It's been a pleasure!
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March 6, 2012
Jon Bon Jovi is 50?
This is a test post.
Please bear with me, as I test to see I have all my accounts linked properly so that my blog now feeds to Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook and to Twitter.
I thought I would make this fun by showing Jon Bon Jovi. IS HE REALLY 50??? Seriously, whoa.
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Oracle's Moon Release Day Winners!
Instead of three winners today, I picked five people to win a copy of Oracle's Moon. The winners are: Jenny, Natasha, Michaela, Amanda and April. I've email the winners to let them know they've won.
Michaela, YOU won the 15 minute phone call! Looking forward to hearing from you so that we can schedule a time to talk.
Congratulations, everybody!
All my best,
Thea
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I see we got a partial launch on the new website!
Samhain will be running this ad starting March 15th on the Dear Author and the Smart Bitches websites.
You can see the ad on my blog:
http://theaharrison.com/samhain-to-ru...
LOVE that .gif!
Samhain to run an ad for Natural Evil!
I heard from my editor Heather Osborn that starting March 15th Samhain Publishing will be running an ad on Dear Author and on Smart Bitches/Trashy Books for my new Elder Races e-novella Natural Evil (out March 20th)!
The ad is a rotating .gif, and I'm VERY new at my blog… but I'm going to see if I can get it to play here.
SQUEE!!
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Welcome!
Hello! Welcome to my new, expanded website, and welcome to my blog! I'm very excited to share with you the work of several talented and generous people.
Website Guy has put his considerable expertise into creating a wonderful place for readers to explore. On the Fan Page, you can find free downloadable wallpaper from fabulous digital artists Angela Waters and Trish "Pickyme." On the Extras page, there several articles about the background world of the Elder Races, plus a free short piece of flash fiction about the sentinel harpy Aryal. I plan on adding to each page over time.
And here on my blog page I hope to post news and share anything from conversations about the books we love, to hosting guest authors and giveaways, and sharing snippets and excerpts from my current works-in-progress.
March is a very special month. Today, March 6th, is the release day for Oracle's Moon, book four of my Elder Races series. Later, on March 20th, my second Elder Races e-novella, Natural Evil is released. You can follow my blog tour dates throughout the month on my News and Events page.
In the meantime more special events will be happening right here.
I will be posting a series of Q&As from men who read romance. The whole thing started when I said on Twitter that I would like to read an article about men who read romance. Then I realized I could write a blog on the subject, and I posted a general on Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter.
I really had no idea what to expect, and what happened exceeded anything I could have imagined. I received wonderful, thoughtful answers to my questions from men of all ages, from all over the world. They've generously taken the time to share their views, their reading lists and photos with me, which I'm honored and delighted to share with you.
Starting tomorrow and carrying on for several days, I will post the Q&As in their entirety from men who read romance. The only things I added were answers to their questions and a very small amount of formatting. Otherwise the posts will be each man's view in his own words. I loved visiting with them and learning more about what they like to read, and I hope you do too.
And the good stuff doesn't stop there. I'll end the Q&A series on men who read romance with a guest appearance from author Myke Cole, who will be giving away a copy of his fabulous new release CONTROL POINT. After that, later this month and throughout the month of April, I'll host other wonderful authors who have graciously agreed to stop by for a visit. To list a few, there will be mystery writers Joelle Charbonneau and Dan O'Shea, and romance writers Vivian Arend, Shiloh Walker, Laurie London, Moira Rogers, and Virna DePaul.
So thanks for stopping by. I think we're going to have a lot of fun.
Happy reading!
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March 5, 2012
New website will launch around 2 am
Website Guy says new site will go up around 2 am! I am not planning to be up to see it launch. :)
The design will be fairly minimal at this stage and will continue to develop as we add layers to it. Tomorrow's a big day-looking forward to seeing what it brings!
Oracle's Moon Blog Tour Cont'd
You can read about them over at Author Sound Relations [Tote Bags 'n' Blogs] http://www.authorsoundrelations.blog...
March 4, 2012
Last Reminder: Oracle's Moon Release Day Giveaway
One of those 3 people will also receive a 15 minute phone visit with me (if they would like). This book giveaway is international, and I am also willing for the phone call to be international, but only if you have the ability to Skype.
If you’re interested, email me at: thea@theaharrison.com. I’ll pick 3 people from the emails and announce them on March 6th at 12 noon, Mountain Time Zone.
