Ranae Rose's Blog, page 15

Six Sentence Sunday - Battered Not Broken

His fingers curled perfectly around her upper arm when he laid his hand there to rest.
She didn’t ask him what his nightmare had been about. That was the sort of question people who’d never dreamed of anything worse than demons, movie monsters and imagined tragedies asked. The worst nightmares were the ones that reflected the actual past or twisted it and presented it in new, equally horrifying ways. His dream had probably been that kind. A lot of war veterans had those dreams, didn’t they?

Guest Author News Spotlight - Opposites Cover Reveal with T.M. Smith

Although her debut book's release is yet to come, you may already be familiar with T.M. Smith. She runs the book review blog Tam's Two Cents and has reviewed my Sleepy Hollow Series. Not only is she a voracious reader, but she's a writer, too!
Her first book, Opposites, is soon to be released. Today she's revealing the (gorgeous!) cover. Here it is:

Here's the scoop on the book...
Calendar year 2081. Our planet has finally succumbed to Global Warming.
Dr. Anthony Smith, one of only a few thousand people to survive Global Warming Ignition, has come to the conclusion that the destruction of our planet and society had been due to Injudicious Breeding which lead (in his opinion) to over population, WAR, unnatural climate changes, lower intelligence, poor physical health, poverty, lust and greed. Having isolated the Dionysus gene, he decided to start society anew by manipulating Human DNA to ensure all their offspring would be born Gay/Lesbian. Thus creating a society where Gay/Lesbian is the norm... to be straight labels you an Opposite and makes you an Outkast.
~ Nature Versus Nurture ~
Some 200 years later Dr. Smith’s descendants have maintained control of the Government that rules society. House Gaeland rules their lands, as well as the other 6 countries that survived GWI. Twins, Aiya and Aiyan, are next in line to rule alongside their soon to be wife and husband. There is, however, a growing anomaly; one that threatens to unravel over 200 years of progress. This anomaly is known as Opposites.
Expected release date: March 2013
And the lovely lady herself...


A military brat born and raised at Ft. Benning Georgia; Smith is an avid reader, reviewer and writer.  She now calls Texas home from her small town on the outskirts of the DFW Metroplex.  Most days you can find her curled up with her kindle and a good book alongside a glass of something aged and red or a steaming cup of coffee! 
At 42 years young, she’s decided to enter the next phase of her life by adding the title of “author” to her list of accomplishments that includes single mom of three disturbingly outspoken and decidedly different kids, one of which is Autistic.  Her two eldest kids and gay best friend were the inspiration for her upcoming new release, Opposites.  

A  Personal Note from TM Smith...
I can’t thank all my sister bloggers enough for supporting me by hosting this cover reveal event!  I’ve made some wonderful and fascinating friends this past year while working on Opposites; bloggers, reviewers and authors that have made a huge impact on me.  I wish I could list you all by name.  I hope you all know how very much I appreciate the support.
I will say the three most important things in life are Faith, Family and Friends.  I have the best of all three!  I thank god everyday for my wonderfully dysfunctional family and close knit group of friends.  To have family and friends that support you when you are right, wrong or indifferent is a gift!

* * * * *
Congrats TM on the beautiful cover. I think I've officially come down with a case of cover-envy. :)

New Battered Not Broken Character & Location Photo Gallery

Since I wasn't around this past Wednesday (my usual blogging day), I thought I'd put up something today about the new feature just added to my site.
It's a photo gallery with pictures of people & places from Battered Not Broken. I chose the photos myself so they reflect how I imagine the characters and their world. There are only a few and I plan to add more, but there are already pictures of Ally and Ryan. ;)
In fact, here's Ryan...
Photo by Emma K. Studio, from iStock
If you'd like to see the rest of the album, you can check it out here.

January Newsletter Giveaway (Half Moon Shifters) Winners

Another announcement post, this time for my January newsletter giveaway winners, who were randomly selected yesterday.

Half Moon Prize Package #1

Winner: June M.
Half Moon Prize Package #2

Winner: Joanne B.
Thank you everyone who participated! This was my most popular newsletter giveaway ever. I'm so glad everyone liked the items I brought home from the Great Smoky Mountains.
February is just around the corner and I'll be doing a special Valentine's Day giveaway in my newsletter. If you're not a subscriber and would like to be, you can sign up here for my monthly newsletter.

Winner of My Battered Not Broken Goodie Pack Giveaway at The Romance Studio's 10th Anniversary Party

Just a quick announcement post. The winner of my TRS Anniversary Party Battered Not Broken goodie pack giveaway is:

Amelia SR
Congrats Amelia and thank you to everyone who participated. I always enjoy reading what you all have to say at the TRS parties. :)
If you missed the party and want to see a couple highlights, feel free to check out the post where I shared an exclusive racy excerpt from Battered Not Broken (a perfect distraction from Monday blues, hee hee) or the post where I revealed a sparkly new look for one of my older titles, Demon of Mine.
Here's what Amelia won...

If you'd like a chance to win a Battered Not Broken goodie pack like this one, I have a couple opportunities coming up soon. I'll be giving some away in my February newsletter contest (newsletter sign-up can be found here) and I'm also contributing some to a contest that will be run by Erotica Book Club - a facebook page for fans of reading erotic romance and erotica (Erotica Book Club's page can be found here).

Battered Not Broken Paperback Edition Released Today

The paperback edition of Battered Not Broken (which debuted as an ebook last month) released today. It can be found on Amazon and will soon be available elsewhere online, like B&N.Virtually any brick and mortar book store can also order it in for customers. [image error] Ryan Moore forged his own path when he defied his wealthy family’s expectations by joining the United States Marine Corps as an enlisted man. After a period of service that’s cut short by an IED explosion, the lingering physical and mental effects of war result in an isolated struggle to exist in the civilian world. He throws himself into competitive MMA fighting – the one thing he’s still able to excel at, even if every match is a risk he can’t afford to take.His first encounter with amateur female fighter Ally Rivera ignites a spark of desire he hasn’t felt since before a bomb left its marks on his life and his body, but his flirtation with her turns out to be anything but harmless. She’s struggling to hold together a family ravaged by violence – a feat that isn’t easy when her father has been imprisoned, leaving her vulnerable to relatives who run a local gang. Can two unrelenting fighters overcome challenges they couldn’t defeat alone, or do the wounds of war and crime run too deep for even love to heal? Find the new paperback edition right here at Amazon. Find it as an ebook at retailers like Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo and All Romance.P.S. I was recently interviewed about Battered Not Broken by book reviewer Kame, and that interview went live today at The Book Queen’s Book Palace Review Blog. Check out the interview right here to find out what inspired me to write Ryan & Ally’s story and why I wrote it the way I did.Oh … and don’t forget to check what’s coming soon if you’re ready for more of Ryan and Ally – especially Ryan.

Just For Fun

As you may have already noticed, I revealed my site's complete overhaul on Monday (and updated this blog with a fresh look to match). In addition to the new look, I've also added some new features (and more are planned). One of those things is the 'Just For Fun' page where I plan to create an index of extra features related to a variety of my books. 
I started it off with a Half Moon Pack (Great Smoky Mountains) Travel Photo Album. It contains some of my favorite photos that I've taken while exploring the beautiful Tennessee mountains where my Half Moon Shifters Series is set. (Sadly, I haven't managed to capture any snapshots of sexy shapeshifters. Yet. Maybe next time. But there's some beautiful scenery I've photographed.)
Anyone who's seen my facebook page probably knows that I like to share photos. :) So I do plan to add more albums, but I also have plans for a variety of different features, such as character profiles and pictures from some of my books.
Is there anything that you would like to see in the way of fun features or extras? If you have any suggestions, you can always comment or contact me to let me know. :)

A Fresh New Look (and Features) for My Site!

I don't usually blog on Mondays, but this is a special announcement. ;)
My site has been given a much-needed complete overhaul! I'm really happy with it. I hope my visitors will be, too. The site is now much visually cleaner and easy to navigate. I've also added some new features, like a photo gallery and 'Just For Fun' section. There are more features I'll be adding over the coming weeks, too. I can't wait to share them with you. (And if you have any suggestions as to things you'd like to see included, feel free to contact me and let me know.)
For now, here's my newly made-over site:
www.ranaerose.com

What I'm Working on Now (More of Ally & Ryan's Story)

I have a tendency to be a bit of a Secretive Sally when it comes to what I'm working on. Usually, I don't 'announce' books until they're past the developmental editing stage and I've got the cover, blurb etc all together and ready for presentation. However, it's different whenever I'm working on a book that's part of a series, or a book that's related to another book I already have out. I haven't made any secrets of my plans to publish more in my Half Moon Shifters & Sleepy Hollow Series.
So I thought I'd share what I'm working on now. Currently, I'm re-writing Battered Not Broken from Ryan's POV only (as you know if you've read BNB, it's told completely from Ally's POV).
I guess this may sound a little strange. I've never re-written a book and told the same story from a different character's POV before.
But - here's a secret - I planned that from the beginning with BNB. When I was writing the book, I had lots of ideas for Ryan's side of the story - his voice, how he'd tell it and details & happenings that we never get to experience from Ally's POV. Of course, I considered including Ryan's POV in the original book and telling the story from dual POVs.
The problem with that would've been that the book would've ended up being extremely long. It's already 110,000 words from Ally's viewpoint only, and any way I could've handled it, including Ryan's POV would've really upped that already hefty word count. The book would've been freakishly long and the print edition would've been heavy enough to weight lift with.
Plus, I didn't want to half-ass Ryan's POV (or Ally's). I've got lots of material for Ryan's side of the story and I felt like I'd have to cut and paste bits of it, shortchanging him in order to fit his POV into the original book.
So I decided that I would write two separate books. That way, if anyone wants to experience the story from Ryan's POV, they will have that option.
So, re-writing a book from another character's POV is something new for me. I'm enjoying it, though. At this point I'm still in the writing stage and can make no guarantees about details like when the book will be finished and / or available. However, I'm working hard on it and am looking forward to bringing you the story from Ryan's perspective.

Ryan's story will have a different cover & title. While many of the happenings will be familiar, the book will also include some details & events that aren't present in BNB due to the singular POV.
And if you haven't read Battered Not Broken yet, there's an excerpt on my site for anyone who's interested.

Rockstar Crush Day - Party & Giveaway

Today is Rockstar Crush Day here at my blog. It's an occasion I invented to celebrate the release of my friend author Veronica Moreau's new book Lick and a Promise, which released today.
So how does Rockstar Crush Day work? It's pretty easy - if you leave a comment on this post confessing your #1 current or former rockstar crush, you'll be included in a random drawing for the sparkly handbag pictured below - a prize hand-chosen and supplied by Veronica.
So... Who is / was your rockstar crush? Everyone's had a crush on a rockstar at one point, right?
I'll start things off by confessing mine. I love music (who doesn't?), especially rock and alternative rock. AFI has been one of my absolute favorite bands since I was a kid. And when I was a teen I had an epic crush on the frontman / vocalist Davey Havok. I still think he's pretty damn cool, so I can look back on this crush with zero embarrassment. In case you don't know who he is, please allow me to enlighten you -  here's a picture of Davey . (Yeah, I've always liked men with awesome tattoos!)
Actually, I have the whole band's autographs on the sill above my writing desk right now. I got them at one of the AFI shows I've attended which were, by the way, freaking amazing. Whoa, that's enough rambling from me. *Ahem* My confession was supposed to last for one sentence, not two paragraphs.
As for Veronica, she loves classic rock and I happen to know that one of her rockstar crushes was Tommy Lee from Motely Crue. Okay, so I'm pretty sure just about everyone knows who Tommy Lee is, but here's a picture anyway  (gotta love that glam metal make-up! LOL :). Well, now that I've got 'Too Fast For Love' stuck in my head, here's today's prize!

Between the sparkles and the bow, this brand new handbag is dangerously synonymous with my style. However, I promise not to steal it from Veronica. One of today's commenters will win it! It's available to be shipped within the US, Canada and the UK. So if you're located in one of those countries and would like a chance at it, just leave a comment including your e-mail address confessing your rockstar crush. A winner will be randomly selected on 1/09/13 and contacted via e-mail.
If you'd like to earn easy extra entries toward the handbag, feel free to complete some of the Rafflecopter entries below.
Please Note: Veronica has an alter-ego and it's Lisa V. Proulx. She uses some social media sites under this name. Don't worry ... it's still Veronica!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Veronica Moreau is author Lisa V. Proulx's erotic fiction alter-ego. Veronica writes about the wild world of sex, drugs and rock and roll…raw, steamy erotic fiction with a rock and roll edge.When Lisa isn’t busy writing about her latest rock star hero or daring heroine, she can usually be found on her farm in Maryland, raising Rottweilers, belly dancing and – of course – listening to the classic rock that has always inspired her.Discover more about Veronica and her books right here at her website.Veronica's new book - released today 1/08/13!
Lick and a Promise
Diary of a Rock Star Groupie
During the era of Classic Rock, Poppy Bishop was a teenage runaway. At 18, she was in bed with the lead guitarist of one the biggest bands in rock history. She went on to become Poppy Bleu, a “famous” groupie who bedded rock stars, their wives (and girlfriends) and became a junkie by the time she was 21. However, she never forgot her first rock star…and he never forgot her.For over 20 years, Poppy Bleu was known in the rock and roll world as the best backstage lay and liked, loved and hated by some of the world’s biggest rock stars. Her story is one of sex, drugs, and rock and roll and how she went from groupie to junkie to author and became the love of a lead guitarist’s life who saved her from a life of ruin.Download it in your preferred e-book format right here at Smashwords.Note: Lick and a Promise is also expected to be available very soon at more retailers, such as Amazon and B&N.
* * * * *I've already read Lick and a Promise. It definitely lives up to its promise of being the diary of a rock star groupie. It's fiction with a sprinkling of truth, but Poppy seems real enough to be a real-life 70's girl determined to get her rock star. I felt like I was reading about a real groupie as I followed Poppy's tumultuous journey. This book is realistic in all aspects and is for mature audiences only (containing explicit sexual content as well as drug use). I'd describe it as realistic, erotic fiction with a happy ending. If that sounds like your cup of tea, I hope you enjoy it too!

P.S. Veronica - my favorite part was when Poppy got stuck in the car on that looong roadtrip with her aunt listening to that old-fashioned super-religious music on a loop. I've never seduced a rockstar, but man, can I relate to being stuck on a long drive with that music playing! LOL I truly, deeply felt for her in that moment, maybe even more so than the moments of serious trouble in the book!Thank you for stopping by to celebrate Veronica's release day with me!Contest open to residents of the US, Canada and the UK only. Must be 18 or older to enter. No purchase of any sort is necessary to enter. 1 hand bag will be awarded to 1 randomly selected winner. Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on 1/08/13.  The winner will be drawn and contacted on 1/9/13. Contest void where prohibited.