Leta Blake's Blog, page 72
November 29, 2013
How to price your ebook #ebook #writers
I used the above link to try and figure out a fair price for Training Season. However, given that the book is 111,000 words, I felt that $3.50 was selling it short, so I opted for $4.99. I’m glad that the book is self-published, so I can experiment a bit with pricing. Does anyone else have thoughts on how I should be pricing Training Season?
November 28, 2013
For The Love Of Our Furry Friends #
For The Love Of Our Furry Friends Christmas Blog Tour
November 20th-30th
Best-selling authors Sharon Kleve and Jennifer Conner adore animals. That’s why they collaborated on this blog tour together. To showcase their Christmas stories celebrating our beloved pets. They hope you enjoy reading them as much as they did writing them.
You can find all the blog stops here and here.
Book Title: Halo’s Wish (Book one in the Dreams Come True Series)
Author: Sharon Kleve
Publisher: Books to Go Now
Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance
Release Date: 9.13.2013
Length: 50 pages
Heat Rating: Sweet
Book Blurb:
Halo Ann Carlyle wishes for a home, family, and a boat-load of pets. What she gets is a bruised hip, a lump on the head, a broken ankle, and her new yellow Honda Civic is demolished.
Rich McFarland, a sexy veterinarian, keeps showing up in the most unexpected places, promising everything she’s ever wanted.
Halo believes she only has time to pursue her career as a pet detective and must ignore her growing attraction to achieve her dreams.
Will Halo trust her heart, and find a way to get both for Christmas?
Excerpt:
She’d just placed another call through to Pemsky’s office, which went straight to his voicemail, when the office door opened. Halo smiled and looked up into dreamy, gold-flecked green eyes, short sandy brown hair, a slight cleft chin, and full lips set in a hard line. Even with the stern look he had on his face, my hormones jumped into overdrive.
Mr. Dreamy cleared his throat—she must’ve been staring. In her most professional voice she said, “Good morning. How may I help you?”
He removed a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and unfolded the sheet.
“I was parked in front of the Beacon Hill Ale House and my driver’s side mirror was sideswiped by one of Pemsky’s Security’s SUV’s Friday night.”
Halo loved the Beacon Hill Ale House. Every Saturday night the Ale House allowed local bands to jam together. That’s where she’d met her last loser boyfriend. She’d had a lot of loser boyfriends. She’s currently on a hiatus from dating, but she wouldn’t mind jumping back into the dating game for this dream-boat.
He handed her the piece of paper.
“I wasn’t able to get a look at the driver, but I got the license plate number of the vehicle that hit my car and drove away.”
He emphasized the last part.
“I’m very sorry about your car. I’m sure Mr. Pemsky will be happy to cover the damage.” Halo checked the company log and Pemsky’s name popped up as the driver—she gulped.
Buy Links:
Book Title: Brenda’s Christmas Desire (Book two in the Dreams Come True Series)
Author: Sharon Kleve
Publisher: Books to Go Now
Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance
Release Date: 11.20.2013
Length: 50 pages
Heat Rating: Sweet
Book Blurb:
Like any child Brenda Howser loved Christmas until her parents were killed by a drunk driver during their annual shopping trip.
Brenda went to live with her aunt, who blamed their death on everything that represented Christmas; the gifts, the tree, and all the decorations.
The festivities’ Brenda once cherished became something she dreaded under the shadow of her parents death. She lived in fear of something happening to the people she loved during Christmas.
Christmas approaches and Brenda has to decide if she’s going to let the past hold her prisoner for another year or if she can finally enjoy what Christmas used to mean to her—love.
DEA agent, John Smith knows the significance of December fifteenth to Brenda, but when the head of the Nuevo Cartel escapes federal prison he’s forced to let her face the day without him, but not quite alone.
Can Daisy, a golden Labrador puppy, a huge sale on decorations at the hardware store, and a gift from her aunt restore her love of Christmas?
Excerpt:
December 2013
The weather forecast for the Western Washington area, specifically North Seattle, predicted a good five-to-six inches of snow. Brenda Houser watched the flakes float like cotton balls from the sky as she dipped a tortilla chip into a bowl of thick and chunky salsa and popped the morsel into her mouth.
Her boss, Corny Myers, tapped her pencil on Brenda’s reception desk to the beat of The Little Drummer Boy, which streamed from the Green Hornet Investigations Bose speakers.
“Hey, Brenda. I have bad eating habits but I’ve never started the day with chips and salsa. What’s up?” Corny asked.
“You know how I feel about all the holiday hoopla. I’d rather stick my head in the sand and pull it back out in January.”
“Do you really think Mexican food is going to make you feel better?”
“Probably not, but a couple margaritas might help.”
Buy Links:
Author Bio:
Sharon Kleve was born and raised in Washington and currently lives on the Olympic Peninsula with her husband.
Sharon is a writer of paranormal and contemporary romance. She loves romance. She loves reading romance, living romance, and especially loves writing about romance. She gets no greater feeling than watching her characters come alive in each other’s arms. Most of all, she loves giving her characters the happily ever after they deserve—with a few bumps and bruises along the way.
One of her favorite things to do is picking up a new book and sinking into the story, immersing herself in the emotions between the characters. She hopes to inspire her readers the same way her favorite authors have inspired her.
When not writing, she can usually be found either curled up in her recliner with her cat and a good book, or in the kitchen baking sourdough bread or bagels.
Social Media Links:
Email: sharon.kleve@yahoo.com
Blog: http://authorsharonkleve.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sharonrkleve
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SharonKleve
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/srkleve/boards/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5399389.Sharon_Kleve
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sharon-kleve/56/ab/691/
Publisher: www.bookstogonow.com
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Kleve/e/B006JAH14S/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard
Shelfari: http://www.librarything.com/profile/SRKLEVE
Library Thing: http://www.shelfari.com/sharonkleve
Book Title: Central Bark At Christmas (Book one in the Dog Tails Series)
Author: Jennifer Conner
Publisher: Books to Go Now
Genre: Sweet Contemporary Christmas Romance
Release Date: 11.09.2013
Length: 50 pages
Heat Rating: Sweet
Book Blurb:
When Tennyson’s boyfriend left her for her best friend from high-school, all Tennyson received in the break up was her dog. She’s sworn off men and now is rebuilding her life. The only thing Par does is work. He barely has time to do anything he wants for himself other than take his dog to the dog park. When Par and Tennyson find an abandoned dog at the park named Duke. Will they find room in their hearts to take him in? And can this Christmas season weave some special magic for the two of them?
Book Excerpt:
“I’m happy this wasn’t your worst date ever, because I had a great time.” He lifted her chin with the tips of his finger. Slowly he lowered his head until she thought she would die of anticipation. He clamped his hands to her waist and gazed into her eyes. “You’re so beautiful…” There was depth and sincerity in the tone of his voice. She felt special. Desired. He dropped his head and kissed her.
Gentle at first and then deep. She couldn’t breathe. He’d sucked all the air from her lungs, but there was no way she wanted him to stop. As she brushed his firm lips to hers, she relished the feel of her blood simmering in her veins. Par slid his fingers through her long hair to cradle and position her head to kiss her even more thoroughly.
His lips pulled away from hers and he stepped back. She reached for the roof of the car to steady herself. Oh. My. God… could this man kiss.
“Not bad for a first date,” he whispered and then kissed her gently again.
Okay… so it was a date. After that kiss it turned into an ‘official date’ and she had no regrets at all.
Buy Links:
Book Title: Christmas Gift That Keeps Wagging (Book two in the Dog Tails Series)
Author: Jennifer Conner
Publisher: Books to Go Now
Genre: Sweet Contemporary Christmas Romance
Release Date: 11.06.2013
Length: 50 pages
Heat Rating: Sweet
Book Blurb:
Julian Barrows has his hands full working full time and being a single dad to his kindergarten, special needs son, Gabe. Gabe’s teacher convinces Julian he doesn’t need to do everything on his own and introduces him to a seizure dog trainer, Hanna Acker.
Hanna and her sister grew up without any ‘Christmas Cheer’. She’s trying to get her sister through college and doesn’t have time to let anyone too close, especially the handsome single dad with a kid.
But, Christmas has a way of changing what we thought we wanted… especially when Santa and an adorable four-legged ‘elf’ are involved.
Book Excerpt:
“What’s this?” Hanna asked, as she ran a hand over the grocery bag wrapping paper. Julian took her coat and hung it by the door so she could follow Gabe into the living room.
“Daddy saw this in a store window and said that we had to get it for you. Open it!” Gabe said. “I wrapped it myself,” he added proudly.
“But it’s not Christmas.”
“No. This is a before Christmas gift. You have to open it now.”
She pulled off a half-pound of scotch tape and finally the paper fell away. Hanna stared at the gift in disbelief. “A Christmas sock… with my name on it.”
Julian came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You told me that you’d never had a Christmas stocking of your own when you were growing up. Gabe knew Santa wouldn’t know where you were if you didn’t have you sock hung somewhere.” He winked. “So you needed it.”
“You can take it to your home or you can hang it here!” Gabe shouted almost tripping over Cody.
Buy Links:
Author Bio:
Jennifer Conner is a best-selling Northwest author who has over thirty short stories on ebook and three full-length books in print. She writes in Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, and Erotica.
Shot in the Dark hit Amazon at #1 in Romantic Suspense and Christmas Chaos was #2 in the Romance category.
Her novel Shot in the Dark was a finalist in the Emerald City Opener, Cleveland, and Toronto RWA contests.
Jennifer is an Associate Publisher for the indie e-book company Books to Go Now that resides in the Seattle area. Books to Go Now offers professional editing, cover design, multiple book format file creation, and most important–publicity. Their staff works to help make our author books a success one book at a time.
She lives in a hundred year old house that she grew up in. Her semi- small town holds an interesting mix of resident hillbillies, yuppies and Navy Seals. And of course Seattle, only a few miles away, is the birthplace of Starbucks so coffee is always on the check list. She blows glass beads with a blow torch, (which relieves a lot of stress and people don’t bother you).
Social Media Links:
Website: http://jenniferconnerbooks.com/
Email: jenniferconnerwriter@gmail.com
Publisher: Bookstogonow@gmail.com www.bookstogonow.com
BLOG: http://jenniferconnerwriter.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.conner2
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jennilynnjac/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenniferconner1
Amazon Author Page: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3362270.Jennifer_Conner
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a2863285/Jennifer-Conner/
Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com/home/Jennifer.Conner
Rafflecopter Giveaway Info:
Prizes:
One (1) Winner will receive a $25 gift card to a book seller of their choice
One (1) Winner will receive Sharon Kleve’s Book one and two of the Dreams Come True Series.
One (1) Winner will receive Jennifer Conner’s Book one and two of the Dog Tails Series.
Direct Link:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NThhM2FjMzZiYjkwZDY0OTgwYTkxMTliNTFkYmQ1OjIw/
Legal Information:
- Entering this contest means you have read, understood, and agree with all rules and regulations stated.
- Entrants must be 18 or older (or age of majority in your country) to enter and to win.
- No purchase necessary.
- Void where prohibited.
- All stated rules are subject to change without notification or reason given.
- Chances of winning vary widely based on the number of entries received.
- Prize is as stated. No substitutions or exchanges.
- Contest host/organizer is not responsible to misrepresented/mis-typed email addresses, spam filters, mailer demons, and other internet wackiness that may crop up at the time of winner notification.
- Winners are final.
- Contest Starts 00:01EST September 15, 2013 and Ends 12:59EST October 16, 2013 and open to International participants.
- Winners will be notified via email, Twitter, or Facebook no later than 12:00EST October 18, 2013
-Respond by date to collect prize is 14 days from notification date.
November 27, 2013
Review: The Light Princess
Hooray! Another great review of The Light Princess from the National Theatre!
And, for what it’s worth, Keira’s and my book, Earthly Desires, is a m/m take on The Light Princess. The cover makes it look much more serious than it really is. It’s actually a whimsical read. I should make a post about that sometime. Anyway, yes.
Click to buy!
November 26, 2013
Five Shuffled Songs For Today! Syd, Stratton, Barber, and More! #music
A few weeks ago, I talked about doing a five songs post every day, but I quickly realized that would get super-spammy super-fast. So, I decided just to do a five songs post, a la Eric Arvin on Facebook, when I felt inspired to do so! I feel inspired today!
So, I’m pulling up my iTunes and I’m hitting shuffle! Let’s go!
1.
Here I Go by Syd Barrett
(Shine on you, Crazy Diamond!)
2.
Now It’s Gone by Casey Stratton
(From my favorite of Casey’s albums, Signs of Life)
3.
One More Time by Jill Barber
4.
Never Said by Liz Phair
(from the ever and always awesome Exile in Guyville. Oh, Liz, what happened to you? Does anyone know if her latest album was decent? I mean, is it wrong that I have endless hope that she’ll eventually return to her original form to some degree?)
5.
Glitter in the Air by Pink
What an odd set of five songs. Interesting. And there we go! Five songs for today!
It’s Mr and it’s Hudson if you’re nasty! #music
In Training Season, there is a throw away reference to this song by Mr Hudson. It was kind of hilarious in the beta reading/editing process because every single beta reader/editor tried to change it to Mr. Hudson. I’d send it out and have to go back in and take the period out. See, it’s just Mr, without the period. Wikipedia says so!
The song!
November 25, 2013
These actors want to take their #mm #romance offscreen!
These actors want to take their #mm #romance offscreen!
(via http://www.keiraandrews.com)Meet Ryan and Cary, the Hollywood stars of my upcoming Christmas romance Where the Lovelight Gleams. This Christmas, actor Ryan Drake is pining. He may get to kiss gorgeous Cary Holloway on the set of their hit TV show, Space Academy, but he knows…
November 24, 2013
Heavy on the D/s with a little B&D and no SM #5stars #bdsm #mmromance
So excited to say that another preliminary review has come in on Training Season! Again, I’m so happy that the book has struck a chord with the folks who have received ARCs so far.
Cricket says:
(Full disclosure, I received this book as an ARC.)
Normally this isn’t a book I would pick up. I mean I’m all for gay romance, but ice skating isn’t really my thing (I lean more toward like Regency romance and science fiction). However Blake skillfully writes such realistic, complete, compelling characters that it’s impossible not to get sucked into this story.
The characters here really engage the reader. I’m charmed and delighted by Matty, no small feat because he could clearly be annoying or too over the top campy, but Blake finds just the right middle ground with him, keeps him likable and self reflective even while he’s diva-ish and spectacular. Rob is incredibly delightful, but more impressively Blake masterfully does a true reveal on him, as we discover him entirely through Matty’s eyes. She presents him so well that it’s impossible not to fall in love with him even as we slowly learn all his flaws.
The sex was intensely emotional, delicious and scorchingly hot. Pretty much exactly what I’d hope for in a book like this, but which isn’t found or written this well nearly often enough. It’s really, really explicit and it’s BDSM, though I’d say heavy on the D/s with a little B&D and no SM. I don’t think you need to be into those things to enjoy this, but be warned that it isn’t vanilla at all.
I laughed joyfully at the humor in this book. Much of it was subtle but it really hit the right notes with me. I’m tempted to quote some good bits but I don’t want spoil any of it for anyone. While it was funny it was very emotionally intense. Perhaps because the characters were so well drawn and engrossing, but I felt emotionally wrung out as I went through their trials with them. I should be clear, this is not an easy book, you will love the characters enough to hurt when they hurt and it won’t be easy on either of you. But it is so worth it to have characters so real you want to be down in it with them.
I entirely loved this book, despite my initial misgivings. And I feel like I learned a lot about competitive ice skating, in case I ever need that knowledge (you never know!).
If you like books with fully realized characters and explicit sex then this book is probably for you, even if you think you don’t want to read about ranchers or ice skaters. This isn’t your typical romance, this is a real story about realistic people who have a whole lot of sex and fall in love in very real ways, while they grow and change as people.
***
November 23, 2013
I Am Not An Angel #motherhood #parenting #bullshit
So, everywhere on Facebook there is this video going around that pings my buttons. It’s all about how mothers are so amazing and stay-at-home mothers even more so. It’s all about this glorification of motherhood that gets under my skin.
Why does it get under my skin? Because, guess what? No matter what my kid thinks, I am not an angel.
I’m a really good mother. I work outside the home and I have a second job writing books, but my daughter gets so much attention and love from me that she doesn’t know what to do with it all. But? I am not an angel. I’m a flesh-and-blood human being who exists to do a hell of a lot more than wipe my child’s nose when she’s sick (though I do that) and to rock her to sleep (though I do that) and to help her learn to ride a bike (though I do that) and to give her a bath (though I do that) and teach her about the world (though I do that).
And I’m more than the woman who helps her with her homework (though I do that) and does the grocery shopping (though I do that–along with my husband) and cleans up the house (though I do that–along with my husband) and who helps with art projects (though I do that). And I read my daughter books and I kiss her goodnight and I’ve been up ALL DAY LONG, but I AM NOT AN ANGEL.
Yes, I admit my eyes teared up watching this video, in part because of the music with the tender scenes, in part because of the voice over, and I definitely teared up when the child said, “My mom’s an angel” and my daughter grabbed my arm and said, “Mine, too.” It touched me and I am so honored that she can see me that way on one level.
But on another level, I want her to see me as a WOMAN because I want her to grow up to be a WOMAN. I don’t want her to grow up to be an angel. She deserves to be fully expressed in her wonderfulness, just as I do, and just as every other mother does.
This cult of glorifying motherhood is another step along the path of cutting options off from women. Because, hey, to be an angel, you need to stay home with the kids and do all the above listed things with the full power of your mind, heart, and soul, leaving nothing for yourself. You’re tired. After all, you’ve been up all day, doing everything your kids need and nothing else. Now sleep, angel. Sleep and wake up to another day of self-negation.
***
Back in the 1800s a dude wrote a poem called The Angel in the House and feminists have long railed against it. The idea of the Angel in the House has long been used to confine women. The Story wrote a song about it, too.
November 22, 2013
HIV Spreads Via Spouses Because Some People Can Be Shitty, Not Because You Can’t Trust Anyone #hiv #gay #heterosexual
In response to this Out.com piece on HIV in monogamous gay relationships:
Okay, okay, okay, I know that HIV is more easily spread by anal intercourse and that the audience for this article is gay men (it’s out.com, so that’s clear), but this article bothered me because the implication seems to be that this is a gay problem, when we all know that HIV is not just a gay problem. Heterosexuals get HIV, too, and they get it from their supposedly committed partners quite often. Anal intercourse is becoming more and more and more common among heterosexuals, also. According to some polls, many younger women say that due to the proliferation of it in porn, their partners are obsessed with getting anal. Not to mention, many women like anal! So, the implication that this is just a gay issue bothers me.
In addition, the message in this article harkens back to that “YOU CAN’T TRUST ANYONE, NOT EVEN YOUR COMMITTED PARTNER/SPOUSE” approach from the 80s and 90s that has been proven to backfire in terms of actually preventing the spread of HIV. (Why has it backfired? There are many psychological reasons behind it, but let’s just sum a lot of them up by saying that going into a relationship/marriage/commitment with the agreement that you can’t trust each other is a recipe for disaster.) People want to to trust their partners/spouses.
Holy shit, Out, what are you saying with this picture? I mean, the message seems to be Marriage = HIV? WTF?
The fact is, welp, sometimes people are shitty and they cheat. That happens if you’re gay or straight. In fact, most studies show that somewhere between 25% and 50% of men cheat. And I’m telling you, just from women I know personally, women cheat, too. The results of that cheating and the outcome for you in terms of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases depends on a lot of things–whether they use condoms while cheating, whether the people they cheat with are being honest with them about their statuses. These are things that can happen whether you’re straight or gay. These are things that we can’t predict. They’re tragic when they happen, but saying, “You can’t trust anyone” isn’t the answer. In other words, this article hit a lot of wrong notes for me.
So, here’s the thing. Sometimes you trust the wrong person and bad things happen, but you can’t live your life never trusting anyone. It’s not healthy and it’s not remotely safe. Sorry, Out, but I think you’ve got this one wrong.
