Cardeno C.'s Blog, page 77

Ask Andrew - Let the Characters Do the Driving by Andrew Grey

Dear Andrew

Do your characters ever take over your writing and make the story go somewhere you hadn't originally planned?

Dawn

Dear Dawn

That happens all the dang time.  I tend to write by the seat of my pants so changes in direction are common, but while I'm writing I have an idea of where the story will go and the kind of story I'm going to write.  More than once I've ended up in a very different place than I expected.  With Fire and Rain one of the characters introduced an entire part of their family that I didn't see coming and that changed the entire ending of the story.  I really adore the way it turned out.  (Also Isaac, the young brother in Fire and Rain had his own opinions on how things should go a few times.  I will say I'm not used to taking instruction from four year olds.)

I think the most intense example is a novella called Shared Revelations.  This story took a complete left turn that I wasn't expecting.  I had expected the story to be about falling in love with a football player and the player turned out to be a jerk and a completely new love interest stepped up to the plate.  I love the story as it is and I'm glad the characters took it in a whole new direction. 

Basically my philosophy is to go with the flow and not to fight the characters.  It doesn't do any good and after all, its their story.

Hugs and Love
Andrew

If you have a question for Andrew, please email it to andrewgreybooks@comcast.net and hopefully I can answer your question next time.

Normally I have some bio and other information, but this week I am writing this post from Vision of the Seas as we pull into Aruba.  I wish you were all on board with me and we could party away the evenings.  Take care and keep warm.

the plan with Ba Tortuga, Julia Talbot and Sean Michael

[sean] evening all
<BA> hola!
<BA> happy new years!
[sean] yes, happy new year :)
<julia> happy new year!
<julia> there's a basset standing on my foot
<BA> WTF happened to 2015?
[sean] someone stole it
[sean] and julia, I bet that's heavy
<julia> yep
<julia> she ain't heavy
<julia> she's my Sadie
<BA> *snorts*
<BA> she's heavy
<BA> trust me
[sean] lolol
<julia> also not graceful
<julia> so
<julia> glances around
<BA> *grins*
<BA> I HAVE AN IDEA!
<BA> An awful idea
[sean] uh-oh
[sean] ;)
<BA> The Texan has a wonderful, awful idea
[sean] you'd better share
<BA> what if a werewolf, a dragon and a vampire walk into a bar
<BA> :D
<BA> *listens to the crickets*
[sean] there would be a lot of biting and a lot of fire
<BA> there would be a lot of jockeying for position
[sean] oh yeah
<julia> LOL
<julia> sorry I was licking pimento cheese off my fingers
<BA> heeeee
<BA> ah, my wife
<BA> SO FUCKING CLASSY
<julia> I get the vampire
<BA> I'm not writing the dragon
<BA> no
<BA> way
<julia> nah
<BA> you two are like the high muckety mucks of dragons
[sean] oh please, the minute you said werewolf you knew that's who you were writing
<julia> Sean always gets the dragons who are people
[sean] BA=werewolf
[sean] nods
<julia> now if you'd said werebear
<julia> we would have known it was me
[sean] a one eyed one horned flying purple people eater
<BA> that's not sexy
[sean] giggles
<julia> uh
<julia> no
[sean] no, just silly
<BA> we're talking about possible sexitude
<julia> possible?
<julia> sean is co-writing
<BA> fuzzy and scaly and... pale
<julia> it's mandatory
[sean] nodnods
<BA> fuzzy and scaly and dressed in Armani?
[sean] there will be sexitude
<julia> heee
[sean] lol
<julia> yes
<julia> I might have to write an Italian vamp whose last name is Rossi
<BA> *cackles*
<julia> <bonus points to the reader who can name THOSE books>
<BA> my werewolf is going to be a giant redneck with an unfortunate habit of chasing cattle at his ranch
[sean] lol
<julia> heee
<julia> excellent
<julia> so, why is he in the bar?
[sean] my dragon comes down from the mountains rarely
<BA> beer.
<BA> why the fuck is any redneck in a bar?
[sean] lol
<julia> to say, "Hey, y'all, watch this?"
<BA> right -- this is more, "I'm in trouble for nibbling the herd and the Alpha booted my ass out."
<BA> it's hard to be a werewolf in cattle country
<julia> LOL
[sean] ahhh
<julia> all those coyotes to compete with
<BA> and chupacabra
<julia> four fangs
[sean] my dragon picks his teeth with coyote bones
<BA> sucks goats
<julia> hence the name
<BA> oooh... dragon toothpicks!
<julia> my vamp just dropped in for a bite
<BA> poor coyotes
<BA> so, names? we need names. My boy is named Copper.
[sean] my dragon likes copper - it's shiny
<julia> Hmm
[sean] my dragon's name is Roar
<julia> Dante
[sean] cool
[sean] the bar's in the country, yeah?
<julia> yep
<BA> nods
<julia> Dante has a country house nearby
<julia> newly bought
<BA> Copper is just wandering
<BA> looking for trouble
<BA> or beer
<BA> possibly a random loose chicken
<julia> munch
<BA> indeed
<BA> he's easy
<BA> fight
<BA> fuck
<BA> beer
<BA> snackage
[sean] the basics
[sean] every couple decades Roar comes down to have a beer, eat fried things and just be a man for a few days
<julia> neat
<julia> see how the world is changed
<julia> Dante likes to get away from it all
<julia> go where the men are men and the sheep are nervous
[sean] lol
<BA> and the wolves are southern
<BA> so, wanna?
[sean] absolutely
<julia> yep
<julia> after we hot our deadlines
<julia> so next week
<BA> cool. once a month?
<julia> sure
<BA> shut up
<julia> what
<BA> THERE ARE NO DEADLINES
[sean] works for me
<BA> right?
<BA> someone tell me I'm right
<BA> come on, someone tell me
[sean] you're always right
[sean] ;)
<julia> uh
<julia> sneaks off
<BA> yeah yeah yeah
<BA> speaking of, I gotta get another 2K tonight before bed
<julia> ew
<BA> tomorrow's angiogram attempt #2
<julia> I mean yay!
<julia> go go BA
<BA> chugga chugga chugga
[sean] good luck on that, BA
[sean] the test
<BA> ty
<BA> okay,I'm going to poof
<BA> I love y'all
<BA> *this* much
[sean] :)
<julia> love you both
<julia> hugs
[sean] love you too
<julia> night
[sean] night

Got a topic you'd like us to tackle? Let us know!

You can find us on Twitter at @seanmichael09, @juliatalbot and @batortuga.

Sean’s website is http://www.seanmichaelwrites.com
Julia’s is http://www.juliatalbot.com
BA’s is http://www.batortuga.com

Facebook:
Sean -- https://www.facebook.com/SeanMichaelWrites
Julia -- https://www.facebook.com/juliatalbotauthor
BA -- https://www.facebook.com/batortuga


Sean
smut fixes everything
where the naughty boys come... and play

Blurb and Cover Reveal Info for Red River by Cardeno C.

It's hard to say goodbye to the holiday fun and relaxation of the last couple of weeks, but it's Monday so goodbye it is. On the plus side, it's 2016 and I'm excited to make this the year I stay on track with my writing and have personal time. And to start 2016 off right, I'm putting the final touches on my next release - a novella in my Pack collection called Red River. 

Jay Aheer made me another amazing cover and I'll be revealing it at Love Bytes on January 15th. 

And here is the blurb:


Two Alpha shifters join together to lead their pack and build a family.
Commitment, loyalty, and strength aren’t enough to make Wesley Stone’s birth pack accept an Alpha with a physical imperfection, even if it’s a meaningless mark. Putting the safety of his pack above his own wellbeing, Wesley trades himself for another Alpha and agrees to mate with a stranger in a mysterious, insular pack.
Alphas from Jobe Root’s family have led the Red River pack from the first day shifters walked the earth. Now the time has come for Jobe to fulfill his destiny, but to do that, he needs his mate by his side. Spiritual, easygoing Jobe reveres Mother Nature and trusts in fate, yet he can’t help being nervous about how his mate will react to his new life in Red River, his new life with Jobe.
Two Alphas with contrasting personalities, different upbringings, and divergent beliefs come together for the good of their packs. But to stay together, Wesley and Jobe must see beyond the surface and embrace every facet of themselves and their union.

Have a super week.

CC
www.cardenoc.com

What's new in 2016 from Renae Kaye?

What’s new from Renae in 2016?
Happy New Year!
We’re at the start of the New Year with dreams, hopes and wishes all fresh!
So what can we expect from Renae in 2016?

Ooh – lots.  For a start, we still haven’t released the audio of You Are the Reason.  That will be coming in this year.  It’s late, I know, but sometimes you need to wait for the good narrators.
I also have a number of translations that I understand are to be released this year.  The Blinding Light will hopefully make it into French and Italian, and Safe in His Arms into Italian and Korean.  And I wonder what the Italians will make of The Shearing Gun?
Last year I released a short story that I want to expand and rerelease.  I have it slated to work on in February 2016 – so I’ll see how I go with that.
As for new work?  I’m hoping to have three stories out this year – that’s three full length novels.  Dreamspinner have accepted my first, and I expect it to be out some time in May 2016.  I have another two that I’m finishing up this month and hope that Dreamspinner like as well.
So let’s talk about them.
Story #1 – a spin-off from Safe in His Arms
You guys asked for it, so I wrote it.  I didn’t mean to.  When I wrote Safe in His Arms the minute Ash and Devon appeared on the page, I knew they had a story to tell.  They exploded in my head during the “beach scene” I wrote, and I knew exactly what had happened between them, and what Devon needed to do.
But the readers told me they wanted Paul and Andrew’s story too.  I was unsure.  Paul was a bit of a lark… and Andrew?  How could Andrew live with himself?  He was married!
I didn’t want to write the story, but it challenged me.  What was the deal with Andrew?
It took me ages too.  Almost a whole year of picking it up and then casting it aside again.  But I persevered, and Dreamspinner said they wanted to publish it.  Eeek.
So Paul and Andrew’s story will be coming in 2016, and I hope to get Devon and Ash’s story finished in 2016 too.
Story #2 AND #3 – spin-offs from Loving Jay
I really need to find a series title for this one, because I’m hoping that by the end of January, this series has three books in it.  #2 is finished.  #3 nearly.
My January job is to finish them and get them off to the publisher.
In #2 we’re introduced to Jay’s friend, Kee.  He’s a little bruised from a relationship, so took a break from the scene.  Now he’s back.  He’s planning on finding himself a big bear to go home with.  Instead, he ends up with Tate.  Not quite the man he expected.
Our friends from Loving Jay are all there too – Liam and Jay, John and Jackie, and Aaron.
And #3?  Oh, I’m going to be a mean author.  I’m just going to say that you need to read #2 first… **wink**
How about, what am I writing?
Actually, I sat down yesterday and looked at what I had.  There are a couple of stories I want to finish that are not like the normal Renae Kaye novels.  Neither of them are set in present day.  One is in the future, and one is a new world.  I’d like to finish them off.
Then I’m going to concentrate on Ash & Devon’s story or perhaps Mickey Ryan’s story (from The Shearing Gun).   I have the next two books for The Tav mapped out in my head, a brand new series of 4 (or 5) novellas set in a small town in WA, maybe a co-written book, and the first chapter of a book featuring a “bad-boy” that just won’t leave my mind. 
So strap yourselves in for a ride in 2016.  I can’t wait.
How to contact Renae: Email:  renaekaye@iinet.net.au Website:  www.renaekaye.weebly.com FB:  www.facebook.com/renae.kaye.9 Twitter:  @renaekkaye

The Year That was by Felice Stevens

     I guess I'm lucky to have the post here on New Year's Eve. I rarely go out' preferring to stay in my pjs, stretched out on my sofa with some champagne and cheese. The ball from Times Square is on the television and inevitably my husband (if he's awake) and I remark on who would be crazy enough to stand out there for hours and hours waiting for that one minute countdown. My thought..how do you go to the bathroom? 

     I'm not listing my favorite books or authors of the year; I will however list some of my favorite things that happened to met. Suffice it to say I am the one who is thankful to be part of this amazing community of authors and readers, some of whom I was lucky to meet at various book signings and conventions. Meeting readers and authors was the highlight of my year.  
     In 2016 I plan on going to Liberty States in NJ in March, The Rainbow Book Fair in April and RT, also in April. I definitely plan to go to GRL again in October and celebrate my birthday.
     I have  a bunch of new releases planned. The first is the third in The Breakfast Club series—Marcus and Tyler's story. I loved writing them and I'm so excited for people to read their story. There will be also be several novellas and some stand alone books and other surprises in store, so stay tuned!
     I've never been much for awards, but I'm honored to have been on several "Best of" lists for some of my books, including the Goodreads MM Book Awards.  But anytime I get an email or a message from a reader telling me they enjoyed my book, I feel as though I've won the lottery.


    Before signing off, I want to take this time to thank Cardeno C for asking me to be a part of this blog. I was flattered to join with such a talented group of authors and look forward to seeing what everyone has in store for the New Year.
Happy New Year!!



     
     

Happy New Years Eve by Riley Hart

I hope your 2016 is filled with love, happiness, family, friends and good health. Can you believe it's almost 2016? Where has the time gone?

Christmas Blessings and Nominations by Renae Kaye

How did your Christmas go?
Mine was relatively smooth sailing.  Some hiccups.  My hubby is still recovering from an operation, so was in some pain, my niece hurt herself in the swimming pool, Mum couldn’t hear us because her hearing aids don’t like crowds, and (as usual) I ate too much.    But we had great fun and lots and lots of presents.
There are two responses I regularly get when I tell people that I am the youngest of nine children.  The first usually is “Your poor mother!”  I find this amusing.  Why is my mother pitied, but not my father?  Or are we talking about child birth here?  I know a lady who has three children and hasn’t experienced more than three hours of labour collectively for them.  She has short, swift labours.  I had one labour – it was 55 hours long.
The other response I get to the nine children revelation, is “Wow, Christmases must’ve been big in your family.”
I smile and nod.  They definitely were.  When I was younger I didn’t realise how big they were, because they were just normal to me.  I was born into a family that already had eight children.  It’s only as I’ve grown and experienced quieter Christmases that I realise how big they actually were.  I didn’t have much to do with the planning of Christmas when I was young, but by the time I hit my teens, my sisters and brothers were having their own children.  Mum and I were always instrumental in working through the logistics of the day.  One of the big things was how to keep the presents straight.
Imagine ten kids ripping the paper off their presents and going “oh, wow” and then throwing the toy aside for the next present.  After 15 minutes we would have no idea which present belongs to who.  So every year Mum and I would create something for the grandkids to put their present in.  One year we covered cardboard boxes in coloured paper, then spent a few days cutting out pictures from magazines to decorate them.  Each box had pictures to individually represent the child.  One year we cut out fabric to make the letters of their names and sewed it on large hessian bags.  The item was presented to the kids at the beginning of the present opening, and as each present was revealed, they could be put away in the box/bag.
One side-effect of having nine children, is that you tend to have more grandchildren than the norm.  We’re at twenty-three now, and I think we may be done.  (Who knows?  There are still some of us in our child-bearing years.  And my brother’s youngest son was born when he was fifty-one.)  Their ages range from under one, up to thirty-four.  And don’t forget we have the great-grandkids now (current count: eight-and-a-half).  And six step-grandkids.
One thing that amuses me, is the amount of people who say to my mother, “Oh, how wonderful to have so many grandchildren.  I wish I had that many grandkids, but my kids haven’t really bothered.”
My mother will say, “It’s great.  So how many kids do you have?”
“Oh, we only have the two children, and four grandkids.”
It’s like people fail at maths when they have to count the number of children versus the number of grandchildren.  If you only had two children, then don’t you think it’s a little bit of a stretch to ask for twenty-odd grandchildren?  And if you only had two children, and your children only had two children, aren’t they following your example?
The same goes for life.  Of course there are some incredibly lucky people out there, but for most of it, money, fame, happiness and health come down to the effort you put into it.
Many people compliment me on my garden.  They visit and look around saying, “Wow, I wish I had this garden.  It’s beautiful.”  I’m bias, I think my garden is wonderful.  There is so much more I would love to do with it if I had the time, but for now, yes, it’s good enough.  I then visit their house and look around their garden.  I can see the building blocks to a lovely garden, but like everything, it takes time and money.  I walk past the waist-high weeds, the broken reticulation, the brown lawn, the dead rose bushes and the unpruned trees, and visit for coffee.  Usually we will end up talking about their life and they tell me about the shows they watched, the clothes they made, or the job they have.  And there you have it:  I have a stack of sewing patterns and material I would love to make, I haven’t watched TV for years, and I don’t have a job (other than little stories).  What I put into my life, is what I get out of it.  I can’t chat with people about the latest episode of The Walking Dead or the latest blockbuster movie.  I’m usually out in my garden or in my writing room and miss the shows.
It is the same for authors.  My jealous eyes often check out the authors who make the top ten on Amazon, or who are doing amazing things in promotions, but I know that the effort that goes into it is reflected in the sales they get.  If you want to be successful in authoring, there are a number of things you need to do.  Number One on the list, is write a good story that people want to read.
A number of months back I read a story, that was… well… bad.  Admittedly I am a lot pickier than your average reader, and since writing my own books, I’ve learned the power of a good editor.  This book needed a good editor, and I think it only got mediocre, and definitely no proofreader had sighted the words before they were published.  It had been edited, yes, but sometimes there is only so much an editor can do with poor storytelling, because it is a sad fact of life that not every person can craft an interesting tale.  Even the timeline couldn’t be kept straight.  And then there were elements of the story that I just wasn’t comfortable with.  In my opinion, the character acted immorally, taking advantage of a situation when MC2 had no other option.  Coupled with that was the fact that I didn’t get MC2’s attraction to MC1, MC1’s focus and attraction to MC2 was icky, and the two characters did odd things at weird times.
I know I sound overly critical.  I’m terrible.  Usually I can look past mediocre editing and focus on the brilliant story.  Or I can push aside the parts of a story that don’t sit right, because I’m enthralled in the tale.  But this book?  Nothing worked for me.  It has been the only book I felt like “returning” to Amazon, because I felt I was cheated out of my money to pay for such rubbish.  (But I didn’t).  Which is why I was completely confused about the success of the book – both in sales and reviews.  I bought it because others were, so I considered it a good choice.  The reviews seemed to be good too.  I wondered why this book did well, when other (IMO frankly brilliant authors) can’t get a break.
In the months since reading, I’ve seen this author around.  Facebook and Goodreads is a rather small community, and you can’t but help run into people.  Someone mentioned to me that they’d seen this author say they made a loss financially on the publication.  I began paying closer attention.  The author has been paying heavily for advertising on sites, and has been begging and borrowing reviews in every corner.  How much, and where, I’m not sure.  I’m just hearing rumours.  And it shows.  The story inside may be unexceptional, but the effort the author has put into promotion has given them success.  So Number Two in how to write a successfulstory, has nothing to do with Number One, and has everything to do with the effort put in after.
So although I couldn’t enjoy the story, and the problems with the story leaves a sour taste in my mouth months later, I learned something from it.  To be successful, the effort comes before and after the release of the book.  Just like in gardening, a successful garden requires planning and planting before, and careful tending and watering after.  In terms of promotion, the weeds around my own books are waist high.  I need to pay better attention.
So, **dusting off my promo hat** I’m here to brag.  I recently read a “how to promote your book” book and one of the first things it said, is if you can’t shout out proudly to everyone about your work, how do expect anyone else to?
Last year, my books did exceedingly well during the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s Reader’s Choice awards.  I was the immensely proud mumma of my books.  This year I’ve been nominated for a few more awards.  Even the nominations make me damn proud.  I don’t think I will progress further than the nomination round, as there are so many wonderful authors, wonderful books, (and let’s not forget the wonderful promoters) out there.  But I’m here to brag anyway.
So the polling opens in January – don’t forget to go and vote.

How to contact Renae:Email:  renaekaye@iinet.net.auWebsite:  www.renaekaye.weebly.comFB:  www.facebook.com/renae.kaye.9Twitter:  @renaekkaye

Happy Holidays from Riley Hart

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday. I hope your days are filled with whatever it is that makes you happy.

We'll be spending it at home, relaxing, which I'm really looking forward to. Saturday is my birthday and I hope to read, and write. I want to spend my birthday with words and my family.


Have a great one everyone!

Merry Christmas from Andrew Grey

I wanted to take a few minutes to wish each and every one of you a warm and blessed holiday!

Hugs and Love
Andrew

Merry Christmas from BA, Julia and Sean!