L.V. Lewis's Blog, page 34
January 14, 2013
Announcing My Very First Personal Rafflecopter Giveaway!
To celebrate and show my appreciation for your awesome reception of "Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever," I wanted to host a giveaway very early in the year. Well, dear readers, that time has come and the Rafflecopter will be up and running beginning tomorrow, January 14, 2013 and will be available on all of my sites that will allow it to be displayed, until January 18, 2013.
The Rafflecopter is OPEN for business. Don't be shy, readers and friends. Click Betty Boop so you can enter my Giveaway!!!
January 13, 2013
Announcing My Very First Personal Rafflecopter Giveaway!
To celebrate and show my appreciation for your awesome reception of “Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever,” I wanted to host a giveaway very early in the year. Well, dear readers, that time has come and the Rafflecopter will be up and running beginning tomorrow, January 14, 2013 and will be available on all of my sites that will allow it to be displayed, until January 18, 2013. That’s five days in which to enter for your chance to win one of five “Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever” 2nd Edition e-books. If you’ve already read it, enter to snag a copy for one of your friends and send as many of your friends to the site as you can so they can have their opportunity to win also. You may enter in some categories once daily.
Thanks again, so much for embracing me as a new author, and I look forward to providing more exciting stories for you to read in the very near future.
Click on the image of Betty Boop to get to the Rafflecopter page pointing the way to Winning:
January 9, 2013
An Excerpt From Book 2 – In Celebration of 100+ Reviews
First, let me apologize, readers, for allowing this milestone to slip by without commemorating it on the day it actually happened. Yes, I now am officially over the 100 review mark on Amazon, but I’m still chipping away on GoodReads (I’m about 21 ratings short, and 61 reviews short).
I’d anticipated providing a bit of a sneak peek of the, as yet unnamed, second book in the quadrilogy to celebrate, but between traveling around the holidays and coming back to a very labor-intensive work schedule on my day job, I’ve had to let some things go. Because writing daily on the second book isn’t one of those things, sadly my promos and engagement with you on the social networks have truly suffered. It is my hope that this sneak peek of a scene in book two (between Tristan and Nate after Keisha leaves) will give you enough inspiration to send all your special thoughts and positive energy my way, so I can get this baby done!
Disclaimer: This has not been edited, so forgive any grammar, punctuation faux pas, and if this scene in its current form doesn’t survive the editor’s pen.
So without further ado, here’s the set-up: After Keisha packs her things and leaves, Tristan goes into his gym to work off some steam. He’s rather over-zealous and trashes a couple pieces of gym equipment in the process. He’s forgotten that Nathan comes by every Saturday he doesn’t have an away game for their fencing match. His brother finds him collapsed on the gym floor watching the sand cascade out of a heavy bag:
Chapter 2 – Book 2, Excerpt
Nathan is half-way across the gym floor when he sees Tristan’s expression and visually recoils.
“I’ve only seen that look on your face twice,” Nate says. “When Mom died, and after Aimee’s accident. What’s up?” He’s in his fencing whites, clearly having expected they would have their standing Saturday morning match since he wasn’t on the road.
“Nothing to the tune of those tragedies,” Tristan says, swallowing a bolus of denial. He stands up, glowering at his brother.
Nathan finally sees his hands. “Whoa. What the fuck? Tristan, you’d better clean that shit before it gets infected.”
When Tristan doesn’t move, Nathan sets his gear on the floor against the wall and grabs some peroxide, Neosporin and gauze off a shelf in a cabinet below the wet bar. “Plant your ass on this bench over here.”
Tristan gives Nate a baleful glare, but does as he says. Nate sits beside him, takes Tristan’s hands and quickly cleans them with the peroxide, applies the antibiotic and begins to wrap his hands to absorb the blood seeping from his thoroughly bruised knuckles.
Nate breaks the silence sooner than Tristan anticipates. “So, you want to tell me what’s got you beating the hell out of your gym equipment?”
“I’ve got to find another goddamn submissive,” Tristan says. “And I don’t have time for this shit. I’m leaving for Hong Kong next week.”
“Then why’d you end it now?” Nate finishes off the first wrap, secures it and begins on the next one.
Tristan contemplates letting him believe he ended the arrangement, but Keisha’s roommate is Nate’s submissive so that won’t fly. “I didn’t end it she safeworded.”
“No way! Jada says her roommate was really into your buttoned-down ass. How’d you let this shit happen?”
“I didn’t let anything happen. She started having anxiety attacks in the role-play room. It frightened her. I tried to get her to stay so we could work it out, but there was nothing I could do to convince her.”
“There is something you could’ve done.”
“Enlighten me.”
“You could’ve given her some hope.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You always follow the letter of the contract with your submissives, and you tell them up front it’ll never amount to anything more. Mine have stayed longer because they’ve believed, however, erroneously in most cases, that the relationship could eventually be more. Didn’t that shit that went down with Aimee teach you anything?”
Tristan jerks his hand away and clamps it around Nathan’s throat. His hand hurts like a bitch, and even more so when Nathan pries it away, grips the sore hand and squeezes it mercilessly for good measure. It’s like they’re ten-fucking-years-old again and squabbling like they did all the time.
“Fuck!” Tristan yells, and wrenches his hand away, scowling.
“Stop bitching and left me finish this.” Nathan reaches in and finishes the wrap. “There.”
Tristan eyes the gauze already soaked through on the hand Nate squeezed. “I knew I should’ve called Angel to do this. You don’t have a goddamn clue about ‘first do no harm.’”
Nate looks at the sad deflated speed ball, and the heavy bag still dripping sand. “This from a guy who just took out his frustration on his gym equipment? Dude, you better get Keisha back, because I don’t think your gym, or a new submissive can survive you going back to being the asshole you were after Aimee.”
Tristan stands and stalks away, throwing as much vitriol as he can into three parting words over his shoulder. “Fuck you, Nathan.”
A Satisfying Ending To A Great YA Series!
When I went to Amazon to buy this book in December, I had to pace myself with reading it, because I knew that once I finished, Samara and Caleb’s story would be over (unless Jaime Reed decides to visit them as adults?). So, I had to savor this final book, and savor I did!
At the end of book two, our girl was taken over by her roommate, Lilith, who went off with Tobias while Samara was kicking and screaming in her own body. Of course, when this happened, I naively believed book three would pick up where that one left off in this kind of linear storyline. Well, I was wrong.
As I began Fading Amber, it rang like one of those old soap opera’s or sitcom’s that ended on a BIG cliffhanger, then when the season premiere came, it was explained that the character had been “dreaming.” Ugh! I hated those types of cliffhangers because the device became very popular and shows were using it left and right.
I should’ve known Jaime Reed wasn’t about to employ that kind of device, because even though she is a self-described lover of 80′s pop culture, I just knew she wouldn’t go there! Well, she did, and she didn’t. Let me explain. Ms. Reed figured out a way to do it that wasn’t cheesy at all, but fell in line with the capabilities of the entities that inhabit both Samara and Caleb. And that’s all I’m going to say about that, because otherwise I might be kind of stealing your thunder. So, if you want to find out how this is ingeniously done, you’ve got to read Fading Amber for yourself!
It is true that book three is the place where Samara and Caleb grow up, so all the snark and barbs they threw at one another in books one and two had to go on hiatus. Some serious stuff was about to go down, so I understand why a lot of the funny business went away, and they fought a lot, but they made up a lot too (smexy times). And I have to be one of the second (or maybe third) reviewers to say, this didn’t bother me in the least, because I was ready for them to resolve all the lingering questions. Would the ruling family of Cambions descend into their sleepy little town and take the situation in hand? Will Samara and Caleb have to do the deed to finally derail Tobias’ plans? Will Samara’s father find out she’s a Cambion? Will Samara’s Mom finally find true love? Will Mia and Dougie reconcile? Will Mia ever forgive Sam? Dont worrry. There was still plenty of levity in the story, but Ms. Reed used it sparingly, and in all the right places.
I know, I’ve got this rambling review going on with not very much substance, but let’s just suffice it to say, you need to read book three, not only because it is awesome with its many plot twists and turns, but it brings our Cambion Trilogy to the wonderful close we expect from a good series.
January 8, 2013
[News] Oprah Drops Book Manna From Heaven, Selects Next Book Club Pick
First-time author Ayana Mathis is a lucky woman. Queen O selected her novel, “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie”, as the next book club pick for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. And from the sounds of this NPR piece, Oprah liked the book – a lot:
“Winfrey says she knew she wanted to choose this book after reading the first chapter. ‘They say you can’t tell a book by a cover,’ she says, ‘but I just saw the title, …
I gotta get this book!
A Solid Female Protag and Alpha Male in Book 1, But Came Up Lacking in Book 2
As I read “Naked” I found myself being cautiously optimistic that it would be a believable story portraying a solid, yet damaged female protagonist being pursued by a billionaire alpha-male. I was not disappointed. In fact, I found it to be my favorite of all the books in this genre that have been published this year. There was a believable plot, the heroine didn’t annoy me to distraction, and the hero was the right mixture of protective and caring without coming across as a stalker. I loved the backdrop of London during the Olympics, and the vocations for these characters were interesting enough to drive a plot that wasn’t all sex all the time. The foreshadowing piqued my interest enough to make me very excited for the sequel. I give “Naked” easily Four of Five Stars.
I bought, paid for, and read “Naked” in one sitting and LOVED it, and believed “All In” would pick up where it left off and be a stellar sophomore offering from Ms. Miller. Boy was I disappointed! Ethan’s POV did not ring true to me at all. Even the dialogue in this was choppy, unrealistic, and all over the place. Where was the developmental editor in this sequel? Even a cadre of good pre-readers might have helped her to avoid publishing this mediocre follow-up. As I read I kept hoping upon hope that he would improve, but no dice. I think Raine Miller did herself and Ethan Blackstone a disservice by attempting this from his POV. Here’s hoping the final installment will make up for this attempt that didn’t quite make the mark.
I was provided a copy of All In book by NetGalley via Atria Books in exchange for my objective review. I purchased my own copy of Naked.
January 6, 2013
The Hobbit: An unexpected journey, the extended edition
UPDATE: I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 48 frames-per-second 3D. I felt that this format deserved its own article. Check it out here.
BENJAMIN ZAUGG: Right at the beginning of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, there is a wonderful scene depicting Thrór, the Dwarf King of Erebor, surrounded by mountains of gold, going completely mad with greed and power.
Saw this at Christmas. I'm missing a crush-worthy hero in this in the vein of Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen). Sigh!
January 4, 2013
Hallelujah! My First Amazon One-Star Review!
I’m certain most writers and readers alike are thinking: “Is she insane? Why is she celebrating her first one star review?” Well, my reasons are several-fold, and I’ll do my level best to explain.
First, let me be clear. I am not apologizing for writing what ninety plus reviewers and several thousand readers have enjoyed. It would be like cutting off my nose to spite my face. They paid for a product that brought them enough joy to write a positive review to show their appreciation—many of whom had never written reviews before. This honored me to no end because it was then I realized that despite its flaws, this story resonated with some people, and for that I’m truly grateful. I hope I continue to earn your praise and respect as I add to my body of work.
Writing this parody of the most famous or infamous trilogy in the market today was totally risky on my part. I took the first book of Fifty Shades of Grey and put a humorous, ethnic twist on it. Having dreamed this story up because so many others were putting their unique spins on the 50Shades phenomenon, I was like, what if Ana Steele had been a sistah? How would a strong, black or bi-racial woman handle such an indecent proposal, if you will?
Mind you, I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that I would enter the fray and emerge completely unscathed. I read some of E. L. James’ less-than-complimentary reviews. I knew that people would love or hate my mimicry of it. However, when my Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever was released, after it was judged un-read by some Mean Girl reviewers on GoodReads, it enjoyed a two-month honeymoon stage on Amazon, complete with a run of ninety-plus four- and five-star reviews, and my own version of the “bunker babes,” through several book clubs that have embraced me.
As the days ticked away, and the story was heaped with praise, I kept wondering in the back of my mind, “when is the other shoe going to drop?” Well, it finally dropped today, January 4, 2013, in the form of a one-star review from a reviewer who declared it was so bad, she couldn’t finish reading it. LOL! Don’t you just love it?
To be honest, I wish it had been a reviewer who’d read the whole thing to give me my first one-star, so I could be proud of it. Like people who earn their first dollar in their new business, I wanted to frame that sucker and put it on my wall! I wanted to get something meaningful from an honest critique, so I can work toward improving in my next book, but this review didn’t bring me that. Oh well, there’s always the next one.
What that review did bring me is the experience of breaking that run of praise and accolades that I’m exceedingly thankful for, yet, I needed to see broken, if only for the simple fact that I know the story isn’t perfect. I intentionally made it a novella, and I took short cuts, because I wanted to see if the story was viable. I edited the first draft myself and it showed! Mind you, I’ve gone back and had an editor go over it, but there still may be some grammar and punctuation issues there, some telling and not showing, because I gave it the final once-over (accepted and rejected her efforts), and I’m sure I missed some other things.
My first story was never destined to be classic literature, and I got that from the beginning. It exists for readers’ entertainment pleasure. Period. End of story. This was my debut into the fiction writing world, for better or worse, and I had no aspersions that it would be the darling of the literary world, but I hoped it would find a niche. And find one (or four), it did. The burgeoning genre of Interracial Romance, the fertile genre of African American literature, the spicy genres of Urban, Multiracial and Erotic Romance, all embraced Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever for the parody it is, together with its unique twist on the original story.
One thing my readers have requested enough times, that I truly want to honor, is the call to give Keisha and Tristan their own unique world in which to be alive and thrive, or to crash and burn. You have asked for an original story for them, so with book two of the quadrilogy I am endeavoring to give you just that. It will be a total departure from its parodied counterpart. It will not be Fifty Shades Blacker to parody Fifty Shades Darker, and books three and four will be Jada and Nate’s story, so no precedent to derail there.
So, I’m celebrating my first one star review because I know, definitively, this is not the last one-star review I will ever receive for this story, or in my life. Even authors of classic literature and veteran contemporary authors have gotten less-than-stellar reviews, so who am I to think I won’t?
This was my maiden voyage as an author; I knew it would be fraught with the choppy seas that all new writers have to traverse. I have dues to pay. I have more craft to learn. I have to create a strong body of work so I won’t be a flash-in-the-pan, or a one-hit-wonder. So, the ante is way up there when I release my sophomore offering. I know this. I only hope with every fiber of my being that I will be up for the challenge.
