Ranae Rose's Blog, page 13

Fifty Shades of Reality - Spotlight on an Important Topic

Have you ever heard of TBI (traumatic brain injury)? If you've read Battered Not Broken or Rough Around the Edges, you know exactly what I'm talking about. But did you know it's estimated to affect at least 19% of American veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Some experts think the figure may be even higher than that. It's a serious issue, but awareness isn't as high as it should be, possibly because unlike many physical wounds, a TBI can't be seen.
There's a press release article on TBI & my books Battered Not Broken & Rough Around the Edges circulating online right now. It offers facts about TBI and info on the help I had writing Ryan & Ally's stories. Check it out on Yahoo...
Fifty Shades of Reality: Romantic Fiction Raises Awareness of 'Silent Epidemic' Faced by Many Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans
* * * * *In other news, I'm leaving for the RT Convention at the end of this month. I've been making my final preparations (yes, one could say that I put a few things off, LOL). RT will mark the beginning of the 2013 convention & signing season for me. Will I see you at any of this year's events? There's a schedule on my site that shows where I'll be - hope to see you there!
2013 Schedule of Events & Signings
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A quick reminder - my Rough Around the Edges Release Day Celebration & Giveaway ends tomorrow. Stop by before today is over and leave a comment here to be included in a random drawing for a signed paperback copy of Battered Not Broken + a BNB goodie pack.
And last but not least, thank you friends, bloggers & readers for a great release day / week last week. :)

Rough Around the Edges Release Day Celebration & Giveaway

Today's the day! Ryan's side of the story is here - Rough Around the Edges is live on virtual bookshelves. To celebrate, I'm giving away a signed paperback copy of Battered Not Broken (Ally's side of the story) and a Battered Not Broken goodie pack. Entering is easy using the Rafflecopter widget below.



Sometimes love is enough. Other times, you have to fight for it.Raw, real romance from an all-male point of view.For Ryan Moore, the choice to fight is like the choice to breathe – necessary. After being wounded in war and discharged from the United States Marine Corps, competitive MMA fighting is the only thing he’s still able to excel at. Every round is a risk he can’t afford to take, but time spent outside of the cage is purgatory, until he meets female fighter Ally Rivera. For the first time since an IED blast destroyed life as he knew it, he wants something – someone. And she wants him, but the lingering effects of war might just tear them apart, if the gang violence that plagues her family doesn’t kill them first.Rough Around the Edges is Ryan’s side of the love story told in Battered Not Broken. It’s not a sequel, but a separate novel written for those who want to experience the story through Ryan’s eyes. Read Battered Not Broken first or simply dive right in and enjoy an erotic romance novel told completely from a male point of view.Full-length novel of approx. 102,000 words.Read an excerpt from Rough Around the Edges here at my site.Get Rough Around the Edges at...Amazon      B&N      AReReleasing in paperback 04/11/13.* * * * *
Note: For the newsletter entry, if you're already a subscriber, simply mark that entry as done. (You do not need to re-subscribe to get credit.)a Rafflecopter giveaway

This contest is open to residents of the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland. My apologies to those located outside those countries.


Thanks for stopping by to celebrate the release of Rough Around the Edges with me!

Photo from iStockHope you enjoy Ryan's side of the story. ;)

Bump in the Night Blog Hop & Giveaway

I can't resist the paranormal. Seriously, I'm like a little flake of iron drawn to a giant magnet when a ghost hunting show comes on TV, even if it's cheesy, sensationalistic crap. I don't really care about the antics of the 'hunters' so much as I love seeing the awesome locations (often historical and supposedly haunted) they visit and hearing the stories of those who live or work there. And I love visiting those kinds of places in real life, too.
I just can't resist anything that promises to be mysterious, even a little other-worldly. And books are no exception. Combine the paranormal with my other great love - romance - and I'm in heaven.
Many of my favorite books contain both paranormal and romantic elements. A few re-read worthy examples from my bookshelves (and e-reader): Wuthering Heights, The Glass Guardian, The Outlander Series and The Shadowy Horses.

What are some of your favorite paranormal romance reads? Leave a comment on this post telling me and you'll be included in a drawing for a bunch of awesome prizes from 5 different paranormal romance authors. Be sure to include your e-mail address in your comment so you can be contacted if you win.
Note: this hop is a US Only giveaway. My apologies to international readers.
Here's what I'm giving away:
1 signed paperback paranormal romance - winner's choice of Sleepy Hollow: Haunted Passions and Whiskey Dreams or Half Moon Shifters Volume 1.  1 $10 Starbucks gift card.So, a good book and a good cup of coffee or tea. Doesn't get much better, does it? ;)

Historical, ghostly ménage romance or a modern shifter romance set in the Great Smoky Mountains? If you win, it's your choice. ;)
* * * * * Visit the other 4 participating author's blogs for more chances to win.
Carrie Ann Ryan
Gabrielle Bisset
Lia Davis
Marie Harte 
This is a winner-takes-all blog hop. One winner will be randomly selected, and that person will win all the prizes from all 5 authors. So make sure you visit each blog and comment to get 5 chances to win. ;)
* * * * *

If you're into shifters, it may interest you to know that the ebook edition of Lonely Alpha, Book 1 in my best-selling Half Moon Shifters Series, is on sale for $0.99 this spring. ;)
Lonely Alpha
Silver bullets and sparks fly when Mandy is trapped on a remote mountain with alpha werewolf Jack. As they work to defeat a big game hunter hell-bent on bagging a werewolf, being around Jack brings out a wild side Mandy never knew she had. If they survive, she'll still have one problem to contend with: Jack is convinced that she’s his mate.
Find Jack the alpha wolf for $0.99 at...
Amazon      B&N      ARe      Apple
Read a free excerpt from Lonely Alpha here at my site.
Thanks for stopping by for the Bump in the Night Hop! 

Secret Project Revealed: My New Merchandise Store is Live

Here's a Thursday announcement post, since I've got special news. ;)
Last night I revealed the secret project I promised to share before the end of March.
It's an author / book merchandise store! But it’s not your typical author merchandise. Instead of putting my book covers on things, I took the time to design apparel related to my books and their worlds, like souvenir tees from places like the Hot Ink Tattoo Studio and Knockout MMA Gym. And some fun designs based on a love of reading.

Just a few examples of products available in my store.I launched the store with 9 different designs, but plan to add more over time. If you have a favorite book or series of mine,chances are there’s already something related in the store. You might want to take a look, because I’m going to be giving away something from my store in my April newsletter contest. ;)This is something I'd been wanting to add to my site for a while, so I'm pretty pleased to have it up and running. Oh, and of course, I had to have some of the merchandise myself (as if I don't already pretend the worlds in my books are real LOL)...   My Hot Ink Tattoo Studio souvenir tee. :)
Just in case anyone ever doubts that I'm a bookworm. A romance reading book worm. ;)
You can check out my new store right here.
Or access it anytime via the 'Store' tab on the main menu of my site, ranaerose.com 

Everything You Might Want to Know About Next Week's Release of Rough Around the Edges

Tomorrow (Thursday) will mark one week exactly 'till the release of Rough Around the Edges. I like the week before a book release. It's an exciting time knowing that something I've spent months and months working so hard on is about to be totally finished and unleashed on the world. (LOL That kind of makes my book sound like a monster, huh?)
Of course, when the big day is so close I sometimes feel a tad impatient. But luckily I've got so much to do that I don't have much time to feel that way. Like...
Getting the Rough Around the Edges paperback edition ready to go. It will be available by April 11 - that's a week after the ebook release day.

The print cover is the same as the ebook cover.

And the secret project. I have not forgotten about the secret project to be unveiled in March. LOL I swear! The thing is, when I launch it, I want to show you guys the project, not just tell you about it. So I'm waiting for a little something to arrive in the mail. It should be here any day. So, literally, I will share what my secret project is within the next few days. Finally. 
Anyway, about the upcoming release - it's April 4th. If you want a special notification when the ebook edition hits virtual shelves, you can sign up for an e-mail announcement I've nicknamed 'Ryan Alert'. LOL It's right here on my site. It's strictly a one-time e-mail notification.
And the preview excerpt is already live on my site. You can read it right here (scroll down past the graphic for the excerpt). Hope you enjoy being inside Ryan's head. ;)

Since I also send out my newsletter at the beginning of every month, that'll be going out close to release day. And April's newsletter giveaway includes a unique (and pretty awesome, if I do say so myself) prize related to *drumroll* ... my super-soon to be revealed secret project. LOL If you're not a subscriber but would like to be, you can sign up for my once-monthly newsletter right here .
It might also interest you to know that I've set up a Goodreads giveaway for a signed paperback copy of Rough Around the Edges. You can enter to win  right here .
I'm also planning to set up something fun here on my blog for release day. Something fun involving a prize. ;)
Okay, hope that's everything you might want to know about the upcoming release of Rough Around the Edges. Only 8 days away. :) And you know I'll be sharing about it on FB and Twitter when the big day rolls around. Basically, if you're anticipating Ryan's side of the story, you can't miss it. LOL
Well, it's back to work on release day preparations for me now. 

The Top 5 Myths People Believe When I Tell Them I'm a Romance Author

Romance author is the greatest job in the world, in my opinion, but all professions come with their own sets of common misconceptions and stereotypes, and romance writing is no exception. I'd even say that romance writing is more misunderstood than most career choices, since such a tiny percentage of humanity writes for a living. The resulting confusion can be annoying, frustrating, even hilarious.



Just for fun, here's my list of the Top 5 Myths People Believe When I Tell Them I'm a Romance Author.
It's not unusual for people to assume that I'm...


Lying. Or at least exaggerating. Either way, when I share what I do for a living, many people seem to think that I'm an aspiring author, yet unpublished, and eager to be taken seriously. Maybe this is because writing is (rightfully so) generally regarded as a tough profession to 'make it' in, or because of my age. Probably a combination of both.A starving artist. Living in poverty for the sake of my craft, unable to contribute to my family's budget and needs. Perhaps even selfish for not spending my time at a 'real job' with a salary or hourly wage.Oooor flush with crazy amounts of cash. Because all published authors are automatically endowed with JK Rowling-like wealth. LOLLiving in a romanticized fantasy world, looking at human relationships through rose-colored glasses and penning bodice rippers a la what their mothers or grandmothers used to read in the 70's and 80's. Because that is what some people think romance novels still are. Times have changed, people! (Not that I'm saying that's what authors of that era were doing, but that's the impression some people give me.)An insatiable tart who will sleep with them, because reasons. This is the most insulting one, since I'm married and they usually know it. I'm pretty sure this is just what some people want to think.
None of these things are true about me. But they sure do make for some awkward and sometimes hilarious conversations.
Luckily, not everyone assumes things like this. And to the people who simply nod and accept that I'm an actual human being who works hard to entertain smart, modern readers for a living, thank you! You make all the awkwardness more than worth it. ♥
* * * * *
On the news front, this week I have a pretty exciting announcement and an apology. The good news is that yesterday, an early preview excerpt of Rough Around the Edges went live on my site. It's available here at the Coming Soon page. Hope you enjoy Ryan's POV!
The apology is because last Wednesday I blogged that I thought I'd be launching my secret project within the week. Sorry, but the mystery must continue a little longer because I'm still waiting for one last thing I need to make my big reveal. But I'm still confident that it will be live before the end of March. :)

Lucky in Love Hop & TRS St. Pat's Party Winners

Thank you everyone who participated in the giveaways I've been holding these past few days - the Lucky in Love Hop and The Romance Studio's St. Patrick's Day party. Here are the winners.
Lucky in Love Hop Winner - Spirited Away ebook
Cheryl L.
(Grand prize winners TBA tomorrow.)
TRS St. Patrick's Day Party Winner - Battered Not Broken goodie pack
Laurie P.
I've contacted both winners, so if you're one you should have something from me in your inbox.
Thanks again to everyone who participated. I've got more giveaways on the way and hope you'll stop by again for those. My next giveaway will be my April newsletter contest. The prize is going to be something unique (and pretty cool, if I do say so myself) from my 'secret project'. ;) If you want to receive the newsletter so you can participate, you can subscribe here . It's strictly a once-monthly e-mail, and your contact info is never shared or sold.

Lucky in Love Hop Post & Giveaway

My characters are always lucky. Well, okay, maybe not at first. In fact, some of my characters' love stories have started off with incredibly unlucky events, like getting trapped on a remote mountain in Tennessee werewolf territory due to a blocked road, or stranded in the Scottish Highlands in the middle of a fierce lightning storm. Even being whisked away to the spirit world by the Bean Sidhe!
Sometimes, to be lucky in love, you have to be unlucky first. But when it comes to storytelling, I'm a die hard romantic, so you know my characters always get a happy ending that's even better than a pot of gold.
And let's just say you can always count on my characters getting *ahem* lucky in other ways too, along the way. Sorry - the whole 'lucky in love' thing was just too tempting for me to write about without throwing that in there.
Anyway. About the prizes! I hope you're feeling lucky because they're good ones. 
Grand Prize #1 $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card - International
Grand Prize #2A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more from the hop's authors.  US Only
My Individual PrizeAn ebook copy of my historical, paranormal Irish romance Spirited Away . International
How to EnterSimply leave a comment on this post including your e-mail address and you will be included in the random drawings for both grand prizes and my individual prize.
OptionalIf you'd like, you can also complete some or all of the Rafflecopter options below in order to earn extra entries toward my individual prize, an ebook copy of Spirited Away.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by. If you'd like to know more about my romances that start with unlucky events but take a turn for the romantic, you may want to check out Lonely Alpha. It's the first book in my best-selling Half Moon Shifters Series and it's on sale this spring for $0.99.
There's no alpha male quite like an alpha wolf.


When Mandy leaves the city behind and embarks on a retreat to the Great Smoky Mountains, she expects to spend the week alone with nature and a stack of novels. Instead, she ends up trapped on a remote mountain by a big game hunter who's hell-bent on bagging a werewolf. Lonely alpha wolf-shifter Jack, the last of the once-strong Half Moon Pack, is his target. Jack is determined to keep Mandy safe while hunting his hunter, but being around Jack brings out a wild side Mandy never knew she had. As silver bullets fly, so do sparks. If they can manage to defeat their attacker, Mandy will still have one problem to contend with: Jack is convinced that she's his mate.
Read a free excerpt from Lonely Alpha here at my site.
Find out more about the Half Moon Shifters Series.
Or find Jack the alpha wolf for $0.99 at places like...
Amazon     B&N       ARe      Apple
Thanks for stopping by for the Lucky in Love Hop!
Don't forget to visit the other participating blogs for more prizes...
Lucky in Love Hop List


Contest rules & restrictions: must be 18 or older to participate. Contest ends 03/18/13 at 11:59 pm. Grand Prizes #1 is open to international participants, while Grand Prize #2 is available to US participants only. The Spirited Away ebook prize is available to international participants. Contest void where prohibited.

March Newsletter Giveaway Winner

Thanks very much to everyone who entered my March newsletter giveaway. This month's prize was a signed paperback copy of Battered Not Broken + a Battered Not Broken goodie pack (key chain, button and signed postcard).
And the winner is...
Tina M.
Here's what Tina won (laptop excluded, LOL)...



Congrats, Tina. I've already sent you an e-mail, so if that's you, you should have a message from me waiting in your inbox.
Thank you very much to all who participated. I hope you'll participate in April's newsletter giveaway too, because I've got something extra special planned. ;)
For anyone who's not already aware, I hold exclusive giveaways every month for my newsletter subscribers. If you don't receive my newsletter but would like to, you can sign up for the once-monthly e-mail  here .

Spring Updates

I'm so glad spring is almost here. Winter is that season in my writing life when I go deep into my writing cave and work really hard on stuff, non-stop. It's solitary and cold and cabin fever always hits in January. (It's been a looong couple of months since then. LOL)
Beautiful Photo from Stock.xchng by Pikaridayo



Spring is different. Late winter / early spring feels like getting ready for the rest of the year, when interesting things actually happen and I can enjoy going outside again. So here's what I'm up to during this busy season...

Preparing for the publication of my first 2013 release. Can you believe I haven't had a new book out since last year? I hope Rough Around the Edges will be worth the wait. It's releasing April 4th. Right now it's still going through proofreading.Preparing to launch / reveal my secret project. If you read my newsletter, you know I'm launching it this month. Within the next week, in fact. I'm pretty much ready to go and am just waiting on one last thing. Can't wait to share. ;)Getting ready for the upcoming convention / signing season (you can see my schedule here). So far this means that I went shopping for some new blouses and sort of almost got strangled by one. LOL There's a story about that on Facebook.Having a spring sale. Lonely Alpha and Glazed have each been reduced to $0.99, for now. It's the first time either of those books have been discounted.Plotting the details of even more secret projects. Seriously, I have some cool new stuff planned for 2013 - more surprises to come throughout the year. :)Waiting for my tulips to bloom. Yellow tulips are my favorite flowers. I look forward to mine blooming every year. No blossoms yet, but at this point even the green leaves are nice to look at. I'm also looking forward to going to see some cherry blossoms! I know these things will be here before I know it - time always goes by way too quickly when a book release is approaching. LOLAnd of course, there's the every day stuff that keeps me busy. Like taking care of my puppy Perrin. He's already three months old. Time flies!

What's keeping you busy this spring, and what are you looking forward to?