Harper Bliss's Blog, page 27

NEW RELEASE: Far from the World We Know

I’ll be the first to admit that, at times, it’s a little stressful to release a book every month, but more than anything else, it’s extremely thrilling! Refreshing Amazon every 5 minutes to see if it’s online yet. Waiting with bated breath for the first review. Watching the book (hopefully!) rise in the rankings… No matter how stressful, launching a new book is ALWAYS exciting! So, it is with great excitement that I announce the release of book #5 in my crazy book-a-month challenge: Far from the World We Know.

I can’t say that much about it without giving away too much of the plot, but here are some key ingredients: Texas, family, emotions high and low, steamy scenes, and a cowgirl.

Mrs Bliss: KDP Select

A hot topic in indie publishing is Amazon’s KDP Select program and the frequent changes to it.

For people who don’t know what KDP Select is, here is the short explanation: books enrolled in KDP Select are available to download for free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, but Amazon requires them to be exclusive to Amazon, and therefore not be available on the other eBook retailers, such as Apple or Kobo. Every enrolment is for a period of 3 months after which the author can choose to stay in KDP Select or pull the book out and go wide.

The program has many vocal supporters and detractors. In this post I will try to explain how we at Ladylit feel about it and our future plans with it.

We have participated in KDP Select with many books since pretty much the start of KU, when authors got paid a fixed amount for every borrow where a reader read more than 10% of the book. This was quite beneficial to us, as at the time we mostly had shorter stories and the payout for a borrow on those was about the same as for a sale. When Amazon changed their payout scheme to a per-page-read last year, this was not the case anymore, but this was also the time when we started to publish more novel-length books. And as these were longer, the payout for a completed read in KU was higher than it was before, closer to what we make on a sale. So we continued putting new full-length titles in KDP Select.

Amazon has always been our biggest source of sales, and the potential sales on other platforms definitely did not weigh up against the extra income from borrows and the added visibility being in KDP Select gave us. Amazon does make books that are in KDP easier to find for consumers, so it’s not just a matter of whether the income from borrows will be more than what the book could sell on other platforms. Amazon is a search engine and visibility is key to any book’s success, so if Amazon shows your book to more people, you’ll sell more copies.

However, we are very aware that with Amazon being such a big portion of our income, we are at their mercy in a way. If all of a sudden they decided to lower the royalty rate they pay authors, we would definitely suffer. We realise that if we want to be successful in the long term, we have to build an audience on the other platforms as well, especially on Apple and Kobo as they have such a global reach. Which is why we have started taking some titles out of KDP Select and offering them for sale widely on other platforms.

The first major one went wide at the end of March, Once in a Lifetime by Harper Bliss. This book came out about a year ago and is still a steady earner for us, but the amount it earned monthly from borrows through KU was not that significant anymore. Not enough to compromise our livelihood if we were to lose it.  And because it has been out for a while and still sells enough copies every month, it does have some visibility on Amazon. So we decided to take the plunge. It has only been wide for a couple of weeks so we can’t say yet whether the sales on other platforms will make up for what we’re no longer earning through KU. However we know there is an audience for our books on other platforms as we’re asked regularly by readers when certain books will be available to them on Apple or Kobo. So this is just the first step to building that audience. We have a list of other books that will also be going wide in the next couple of months.

Our current policy regarding new titles, and what we plan to keep doing for the foreseeable future, is to enrol them in KDP Select when they come out, for at least one or two cycles (so three or six months). We have seen with the last couple of titles that this gives the book a lot of visibility, gets it more reviews early on and makes the book attractive to Amazon. After these first three or six months, we plan on taking the books out of KDP Select and go wide with them, hopefully gaining new readers on the other platforms with every book.

We’ll have to wait and see to know if this plan works out the way we want, but we are confident that going wider than we currently are is the way forward to ensure our long-term career in this business.

Caroline

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Happy Third Birthday High Rise!

Exactly three years ago, High Rise (The Complete Collection) came out. (Crikey, time flies!) This is significant to me because High Rise was the first longer work I wrote (divided into four novellas, but still.)

It’s been a fan favourite forever–readers seems to especially like Isabella and Nat!–and now, three years after its first publication, my wife has worked her magic and it has a brand new (glitzy & sexy) cover.

I have three paperback copies left with the old cover. If you want your very own signed copy, you can get one for the round sum of $7 (shipping included!) I only have three left, so if you want one, let me know asap. Payment will need to be made through PayPal.

To recap: the discounted paperbacks you can buy for $7 only (shipping included) have the old cover. Email me at harperbliss@gmail.com to reserve your copy.

Happy Birthday High Rise (and Nat, Isabella, Maddie and Alex!)

 

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Preview ‘Far from the World We Know’

The countdown has begun. My new novel Far from the World We Know will be out in one short week (on Friday 15 April). Here’s a sneak peek at the first 2 chapters. Enjoy!

Far from the World We Know
© Harper Bliss

CHAPTER ONE

LAURA

I’ve left the past behind, I think, as I flatten the last cardboard box. This one held the few books I brought. I stacked them next to Aunt Milly’s on the built-in shelves in her living room—my living room. It’ll take some time before I can think of this house as mine, especially because it’s not—not legally anyway. Aunt Milly’s name is on the deed and she’s still very much alive, though not so much kicking anymore.

Sweet Aunt Milly, who understood, without me having to say a word, that I needed to leave Chicago, if not for good, then at least for a long time. She’s the only person I know in Nelson, Texas. Speaking of which, it’s almost time for my daily visit to Aunt Milly at Windsor Oaks, the retirement home she now resides in. I offered—basically insisted—for her to stay in her house. It’s surely big enough for the two of us, and I work from home, so I could have taken care of her every need, but she wouldn’t have any of it.

“It’s time for me to leave as well,” she’d said, and, in turn, I had understood her meaning in those few words.

I put the flattened box in the garage with the rest and go in search of my running shoes. Windsor Oaks is in the center of town, about two miles from where I live. Running back and forth doesn’t come close to the distances I used to run along Lake Michigan, but it’ll do for now. I find myself exhausted after four miles these days. “This could be a result of the severe trauma you suffered,” the last doctor I visited in Chicago said. He must have been right. And then, out of nowhere, there are the flashes in my mind again. The ones I’m so powerless against. Blood pooling on the living room carpet and the sound of bone breaking, over and over again. I shake my head and refocus on tying my laces. Running is the only thing that makes that distorted movie in my brain stop.

* * *

“Are you taking care of my spider plant?” Aunt Milly asks, as she does every single day.

In response, I show her a picture I’ve taken this morning on my phone.

“How do I know you’re not showing me the same picture every day?” she asks with a grin.

“You know because I’m your favorite niece and I wouldn’t deceive you like that.”

“I have no choice but to believe you, but my favorite niece you are.” Her face goes blank for an instant. Every time it does, I can’t help but wonder whether she’s thinking about what I’m thinking about. About the events I asked her not to speak of anymore. That doesn’t mean every single second of it doesn’t still occupy my mind.

“How was your run?” she asks. “It must be getting hot out there.” The temperature in Aunt Milly’s room is always exactly the same, no matter the conditions outside, and warm enough for the sweat to keep pearling on my forehead. “This is nothing,” Aunt Milly says, then falls silent again.

I wish, for her sake, that I was the kind of person who could make endless chitchat, but that’s not me. So we often sink into a companionable silence for minutes on end, me racking my brain for a tidbit of safe information I haven’t shared with Aunt Milly yet, and, judging by how her eyelids sometimes droop, my aunt dozing off in her chair. As long as she knows she’s not alone, I think, as I always do when I fail to come up with more words.

“Any exciting plans this weekend?” she asks, as her eyelids flutter.

“Tending to your garden.” Although garden is a big word for the patch of overgrown grass and weeds at the back of the house. After she broke her hip last year, Aunt Milly wasn’t able to take care of it anymore.

“It’s your garden now, dear.” By the time she gets to the word dear her voice has lost its oomph and I can tell she’s getting tired. She takes a few seconds to catch her breath. “Why don’t you go to Sam’s Bar on Saturday? It’s not good for you to be on your own all the time.” This last statement seems to have zapped the last conversational energy from her body.

“I’m not though, am I?” I give her a kind smile. “I have you.”

She just nods.

“I’ll let you rest now.” I push myself out of my chair.

“That’s okay, dear. Just stay a little while longer.” Aunt Milly closes her eyes.

I sink back into the chair and wait until I hear her breath steady itself and she breaks into a gentle snore. Every day I come here, we perform a different variation of this conversation, and every time, when we reach this bit—contemplative for me, drowsy for her—I think exactly the same thing: being alone is good and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

* * *

After I return home and take a quick shower, I stand in front of the fridge and realize it’s empty. I quickly push back the memory of how a not properly stocked refrigerator made Tracy feel. I can’t help but wonder whether I’ve become so lax about grocery shopping simply because I can now, then head to the supermarket. Nelson only has one and, when I first arrived, I was amazed by how spotless and brand new it looked. It’s not massive, but the aisles are wide and I never feel rushed when I push my cart through them and examine what’s on offer.

I don’t get out much—Aunt Milly is surely correct about that—so when I do, I like to take my time. I wasn’t born a hermit. And a daily run works for me now, but I know its magic will cease to be enough soon. So I make a point of nodding at everyone I encounter, sometimes even throwing in a smile. I’m not out to make friends just yet, but having a chat with someone closer to my age range wouldn’t be a bad thing, I guess. I’m just afraid of what might slip out if I let my guard down even a little.

I scan the vegetable aisle, pondering what to make for dinner, when another shopping cart crashes into mine.

“Oh, I’m so very sorry,” a woman says, but she doesn’t pull her cart back. “I was rushing again, as usual.”

“Never mind.” I give her a smile so as to reassure her that it’s really no big deal.

The woman stares intently at me for a second too long. “You’re new in town, aren’t you?” she asks. “I’ve seen you run along Main Street. I have my office there.” She paints a big smile on her face and extends a hand. “I’m Tess Douglas, managing editor of The Nelson Ledger, which basically means I do everything.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Laura.” I barely touch my palm to hers. “And yes, I am new.”

Tess flicks a strand of hair away from her shoulders and looks at me again. “Welcome to Nelson,” she says. “Are you here to stay? Where did you move from?”

“From Chicago. And I—I might be.” I start pulling my cart out of the way, anxious to get back to my shopping and not prolong this conversation.

“Do you work here?” Tess quirks up her eyebrows. She really wants to know everything.

“I’m a freelance graphic designer, so I can work pretty much anywhere.”

“Oh!” She clasps a hand over her mouth. “You might just be what I’ve been looking for, Laura,” she exclaims, her voice going all high-pitched.

I should be amused by this comment, but it terrifies me instead. What does this woman want from me? I pull my cart a bit farther away from her to indicate that I want to move on.

“TNL—The Nelson Ledger—has been ready for a makeover since I started working for it in 2006… Well, actually, come to think of it, long before that, but I digress. I finally scraped a budget together and I’m ready to start talking about it to people like you.”

“I’m very sorry, Tess,” I say with a firm voice. “I’m currently not looking for new clients.”

Tess’s posture deflates a little. Then she inhales, and it’s as though the oxygen she sucks in instantly replenishes her bravado. “Maybe you can recommend someone then?”

This woman really will not let up. “Maybe,” I mutter.

She reaches into her purse and gets out a business card. “Here. Call or email me if you think of someone… or when you do have time for new clients.” She follows up with a wide smile, baring a row of ultra-white teeth.

“Sure.” I take the card and, without looking at it, drop it into the side pocket of my jacket. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Yes,” Tess, who suddenly seems a bit flustered, says. “Take care now.” With that, she spins her cart around and heads into the opposite direction.

Full on much, I think, as I follow her with my gaze. She’s tall and her full hips sway a little as she walks. Her blond hair comes to well below her shoulders and… her stare unsettled me a little. Perhaps I could have been more polite, but she made me feel so cornered, what with her cart blocking mine—though I could have just turned around.

I refocus my attention on the vegetables to steady myself. I think I’ll have sweet potatoes with my dinner tonight.

CHAPTER TWO

TESS

“Average height, short dark hair, unfeminine clothes?” Megan asks.

I nod, recalling Laura’s jeans and leather jacket. It looked and smelled brand new.

“I’ve seen her around. I think she’s living in Millicent Johnson’s house,” Megan says.

I shake my head then roll my eyes. “In true Tess Douglas fashion, I put my foot in it again. I came on so strong, she practically ran away from me.”

“But your gaydar pinged?” my sister asks.

“Not just pinged, Megs; it shrieked. Loudly.”

“And you gave her your card?” Megan keeps repeating everything I said.

Megan’s husband, Scott, walks into the den. “What are you gals talking about?”

“Nothing that concerns you, hon,” Megan says. “Girl talk.”

“All right, all right, I’ll make myself scarce then. Jesus.” He mock-sighs, gives Megan a quick kiss on the top of the head, and walks into the hallway. “I have a game to watch, anyway,” he shouts from around the corner. “I don’t have time for your girl talk.”

Megan chuckles. “That man.”

“He’s a good one, Megs,” I say.

“Don’t I know it.” Megan leans against her chair, as if she’s pondering all the excellent qualities of her husband and the father of their three children, who are currently at our parents’ ranch. Which is also still my home. “But back to you, sis. Judging by the enthusiasm you walked in here with, I gather you’d like to see the mysterious Laura again.”

“I would. It’s not every day I bump into a fellow lesbian in this town.”

“Well, there are Myriam and Isabella,” Megan offers, palms wide.

“A fellow lesbian who might be single,” I say, though I have no idea whether Laura is single.

“And pleasing to the eye?” Megan asks.

“Extremely,” I concur, remembering Laura’s blue eyes, smooth, pale skin, and high cheekbones.

“Maybe you should invent a new feature for The Ledger in which you interview all new arrivals in Nelson,” Megan says.

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Hope flares in my stomach. The very reason I’m discussing this with Megan is because I know she can reach the same levels of excitement as I can, and just as easily.

“That was just a joke.” Megan cocks her head. “It would be a bit too obvious.”

“Oh, and asking her off the bat to redo The Ledger’s layout isn’t?”

“Well, yes, of course that was too obvious. When will you learn to control yourself, girl?”

“Heck if I know. I’m thirty-nine years old. I’m not going to change overnight, if ever, am I?”

Megan sighs, then smiles. “Christ, I’m happy I no longer have to go through this.”

“Rub it in, why don’t you.”

“I’m just saying… Do you remember how I got my Douglas claws into Scott? I’m the same as you. If it’s meant to be, she won’t have been put off by your forward ways. You’ll get another chance. Make sure you’re ready for it.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” She didn’t even give me her last name, I suddenly think. I can’t even google her. Would Laura have googled me? Would she, at least, have visited the website of The Nelson Ledger? Or will she just have buried my business card somewhere—or thrown it in the trash, thinking that she doesn’t want anything to do with that mad woman she met at the store?

“Take a few deep breaths and keep your cool,” Megan says.

“Worst advice ever.” I slap my palms onto the table.

“You could go and see her, I guess.” Megan shrugs. “It worked for me and Scott.”

“Go knock on her door, you mean?” I ask incredulously.

“Why not? What have you got to lose? This could be your soulmate, Tessie.” Megan adopts a serious TV newscaster voice. “One cannot play around with these things.”

“You’re sure she lives in Millicent Johnson’s house?” I ask.

“I’m a soccer mom, which means I know everything that goes on in this town,” Megan says, her voice devoid of irony. “Between you running The Ledger and me spending half the day listening to gossip, the Douglas twins have got Nelson’s secrets pretty much covered.”

“Apart from Laura’s last name and why she would move to this one-horse town,” I muse.

“She must be a relative of Millicent’s. As far as I know, that house was never on the market.”

“Hm, that does make sense. Millicent moved into Windsor Oaks a few weeks ago.” The pieces are starting to come together in my mind.

“Maybe she moved here to help out her aging relative. That would be very noble of her,” Megan says.

“There must be a reason.” I’m not a journalist as such, but I’ve always had a good nose for smelling stories—a necessity when trying to come up with news about a town with a population of less than a thousand.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions though,” Megan insists.

“I’m intrigued.” I look into Megan’s eyes, which are exactly the same color as my own.

“Here’s what you do.” My sister is using her serious voice again. “Give it a few days and if you don’t hear from her, go to her house. You run The Ledger, you can think of an excuse. Tell her you’re hunting for a story. Ask her if she’d be interested in introducing herself to the town. Something like that.”

“I’ll be sure to give that some thought,” I say. Then Scott walks in with his mobile phone in his hand.

“Honey, could you tell me why your mother is calling my phone to ask when we’ll be there for dinner?”

“Simple, hon,” Megan replies. “I’m talking to my sister and I don’t like to be interrupted when I do. I’ve put my phone on silent.”

“Tsss,” Scott hisses and hands Megan the phone.

* * *

Toby, Max, and little Emma all come running toward me as though they haven’t seen me in a month when I pull in to the driveway of the ranch. I quickly get out of the car and hug Emma. The boys are just excited about my arrival, not so much about me actually being there.

“Auntie Tess, I made you a cake,” Emma says. “Apple and vanilla.”

Before I get the chance to reply, Max, now five and the middle child, says, “It’s not real, Auntie Tess. She made it in her plastic oven.”

“It is,” Emma shrieks.

“I’m sure it will be wonderful, honey,” I say, and hold her a little closer. Toby has already wandered off toward the shed. Scott and Megan arrive and park their car behind mine and, as soon as she gets a whiff of her mom being around, Emma shakes herself free from my hug, and rushes toward Megan.

Fifteen minutes later, we sit down to dinner, which is never a quiet affair with three children at the table. Scott occupies himself with feeding Emma, who’s only just turned three, while Megan fusses over the boys.

“How much did grandpa spoil you this afternoon?” she asks Max.

“I do no such thing,” our dad says, though we all know it’s a lie. He’s always sneaking the boys candy when no one’s looking, against Megan’s explicit request to stop. “And when I do give them something, I make them work for it first. Toby helped me feed the cattle today. He’s going to grow up one fine rancher.” Dad holds up his hand for Toby to slap a high-five against.

“So will I,” Max interjects.

“You will become the star quarterback of the high school football team,” Scott says. “You’d better start practicing.”

Max sits there beaming, in awe of his dad, the football coach, though he’s only been playing soccer so far.

“What will I become?” Emma asks with a small voice.

“Anything you want, my little angel,” Mom says. “But as far as I’m concerned, you’d make an excellent President of the United States.” It’s the exact same thing she used to say to Megan and me when we were little. However after college, which we attended together, both my sister and I couldn’t wait to get back to this town everyone always wants to get out of.

We could never stand to be away from Earl and Maura Douglas for too long. Megan even lured Scott here to take a non-prestigious job coaching high school. She never dreamed of starting her family anywhere else but here. And me… I gladly took the opportunity to move back into my old bedroom. I tried moving out once, years ago, to live with a woman in Houston, but not only could I not get used to city life, the relationship didn’t exactly meet my expectations either.

So, here I am, still living with my parents on the cusp of 40. I’m not unhappy, but, somewhere deep inside, I do feel a clock ticking. Not a biological one—I’m more than content being an aunt to the three rascals sitting across from me. But I’m so ready for true love, I can practically feel the desire for it pulse in my veins. It’s in my breath when I inhale and on the back of my eyelids when I close my eyes at night. That’s why, every time I meet an attractive woman I even remotely suspect of being a lesbian, my heart does a crazy pitter-patter. And that’s how I know I will go knocking on Laura’s door one of these days.

<>

Far from the World We Know will be available on Friday 15 April 2016

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Latest releases: From Top To Bottom, French Kissing: Season Three and Seasons of Love

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Want more FREE stories? Download French Kissing: Episode One, Fool for Love (High Rise Novella One), Wetter, All of Me and New Girl

Mrs Bliss: A brief history of Ladylit

Yay, my wife has finally decided to come out of the closet! I’ll leave the explanation to her, but we both hope this becomes a useful weekly blog for aspiring authors and readers alike.

—

Spring is the season for new beginnings and so I have decided to dip my toe in the writing pond. Mind you, nothing like a book yet—I’ll leave that to my prolific wife—but a weekly blog.

Harper (Bliss, my partner in business and life and everything really) and I have recently started a weekly podcast Harper Bliss & Her Mrs. on The Lesbian Talk Show where we answer questions about publishing and writing lesbian fiction. This sparked the thought of starting a parallel blog where I could answer questions we don’t have time for on the podcast, share some of my thoughts on running a lesfic publishing business, and generally write about our experiences and plans in the current publishing industry.

For this first post I’ll start with a little history. Five and a half years ago I was transferred from Belgium to Hong Kong by my then employer. Having no job of her own, Harper started writing, something she had always wanted to do. Her work seemed to appeal to people so we set up a company through which to sell her stories. That was the birth of Ladylit Publishing in June 2012.

I was still working full-time but was helping Harper out in bits and pieces with some editing and covers. Over the next couple of years Harper’s output and popularity kept growing, so much so that we started entertaining the idea of having Ladylit be our full-time business in a few years. As a teenager who always had her nose stuck in a book, my dream job was working at a publisher, reading for a living and deciding what would get published. And now that seemed like a real possibility.

When my situation changed at work two years ago, and I was faced with the choice of keeping on at the same company but going back to Belgium, or staying in Hong Kong and quitting my job, Harper and I decided it was the right time to take the plunge and try to make Ladylit a successful business that could support us both.

Now, two years later, we are finally at that stage, where we are confident that we can support ourselves with Ladylit on a monthly basis. It took hard work, a steep learning curve, a lot of trial and error and it will continue to do so if we want to maintain and grow the business. But we are both excited and motivated and full of ambitious plans for the future. Which is what I will endeavour to write about.

I hope you will enjoy reading along and feel free to leave questions and comments below.

Caroline

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Latest releases: From Top To Bottom, French Kissing: Season Three and Seasons of Love

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Want more FREE stories? Download French Kissing: Episode One, Fool for Love (High Rise Novella One), Wetter, All of Me and New Girl

Once in a Lifetime News

While I eagerly await the publication of my next novel Far from the World We Know (not long now, but, argh, I’m so excited about it!), we’ve made some changes to Once in a Lifetime. Most importantly, we lowered the price from $6.99 to $4.99 and it’s now available from all retailers.

I was also approached by the people behind a new app called Radish, who were looking for some lesbian erotic romance content. I partnered with them and if you’re hip and young (unlike me) and like to read on your phone or iPad, you can also get it from there. In summary, as of now, you can get Once in a Lifetime for $4.99 from these retailers:

Direct from author

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon CA

Amazon AUS

Amazon DE

Apple

Kobo

Barnes & Noble

P.S. There’s a new episode of Harper Bliss & Her Mrs out today, you can find it here >>

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Latest releases: From Top To Bottom, French Kissing: Season Three and Seasons of Love

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Want Hired Help AND Summer's End for FREE? Subscribe to my mailing list >>

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Want more FREE stories? Download French Kissing: Episode One, Fool for Love (High Rise Novella One), Wetter, All of Me and New Girl

New podcast ‘Harper Bliss & Her Mrs’

A few weeks ago I was interview by Sheena from The Lesbian Talkshow (that interview will air soon) and we had such a fun chat that she promptly invited me and my wife to have our own podcast on The Lesbian Talkshow network. Because of the big void inside of me that needs to be filled with attention all the time (just kidding, though my Mrs may beg to differ ;-p) I was quickly able to persuade my wife to give it a go, and now Caroline and I have our own podcast. Yay!

The idea is to each week answer a question related to publishing lesbian fiction. In the first episode we replied to the question what a day in the life of a lesfic publisher looks like (according to my wife, this involves a lot of ego management on her part) and in this week’s episode we let you know if you can actually make money from lesbian fiction.

The episodes are short and bite-sized and if you’ve always wanted to hear what my wife’s voice sounds like, here’s your chance to find out. You can find Harper Bliss & Her Mrs anywhere podcasts are distributed, or you can also listen here:

If you have a lesfic indie pub question you would like Caroline and me to answer, you can email us that question at harperbliss@thelesbiantalkshow.com

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Latest releases: From Top To Bottom, French Kissing: Season Three and Seasons of Love

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Want Hired Help AND Summer's End for FREE? Subscribe to my mailing list >>

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Want more FREE stories? Download French Kissing: Episode One, Fool for Love (High Rise Novella One), Wetter, All of Me and New Girl

NEW RELEASE: From Top To Bottom

This book has been a long time in the making. I looked it up and the call for submissions went out in April last year. So, I’m extra glad I can finally set these stories free, because they are superb. (I must also give credit to my wife who co-edited this anthology with me, did most of the behind-the-scenes work AND created that awesome cover!) Ladylit doesn’t have anymore anthologies planned this year (we hope to get back to them in 2017, but have chosen to focus on other projects this year) so this release is extra cause for celebration.

My story (Not Yet) features Ava Castaneda and Charlie Cross from Release the Stars. (Guess who’s on top?)

French Kissing: Season One is one sale!

French Kissing: Season One is on sale until 20 March. Get your copy for $0.99/£0.99 before the promo ends. Here are the links:

– Amazon US

– Amazon UK

(If you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can get all seasons for free.)

In other news: Far From The World We Know is almost ready for release, I finished the first draft of The Road To You on Tuesday and I’m getting ready to start a brand new series (set in Sydney!) on Monday. Oh, and next week From Top To Bottom will be out. (This is why I coined the hashtag #NoRestForTheDramatic!)

Cover and Table of Contents for From Top To Bottom

I’m very happy to reveal the cover (above) and announce the table of contents (below) for my upcoming anthology From Top To Bottom (out on 25 March.)

Chasing the Dragon by S.E. Hill

Dance for Me by Janelle Reston

Serious Swimmer by J. Belle Lamb

Call for Submission by Elna Holst

Tell Me by Robyn Nyx

Taking the Lead by Lauren Jade

The Antisocial Sister by Lucy Felthouse

One Hundred Strokes by Sinclair Sexsmith

The Encounter by Eden Darry

Secretly Submissive by Brooke Winters

Inside by Leandra Vane

Vegas Mistress by Samantha Luce

Hit The Top by Robin Watergrove

Not Yet by Harper Bliss

Latin Lessons by Lise MacTague

Fifteen truly exceptional stories that WILL make you squirm in your seat. I’m thrilled.

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Latest releases: French Kissing: Season Three, Seasons of Love and Release the Stars

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Want more FREE stories? Download French Kissing: Episode One, Fool for Love (High Rise Novella One), Wetter, All of Me and New Girl