Storm Chase's Blog, page 90

Jayne Lockwood: Erotica vs. Romance – My Battle Between the Sheets

Jayne Lockwood is the author of The Cloud Seeker, a romance with twists and turns.  I recommend it!

First of all, many thanks to Storm for allowing me to appear on her wonderful blog.  It's a great opportunity and I hope I don't blow it.


As a former erotica turned contemporary romance writer, I've often struggled with the above conundrum.  It would be easy to put in gratuitous sex scenes and slap an erotica tag on any book I've written, but without sounding like a pompous arse, that would comprise the integrity of the story.  In some cases, as with The Cloud Seeker, it would be distasteful, considering the other themes of 9/11 and grief.  But at The Cloud Seeker's heart is a passionate romance between two awkward people, and the sexual frustration that Max feels as he fights his feelings for Cat, the wayward woman whom everyone else thinks is a bit "odd."

And in Closer Than Blood there is also a theme of frustration and denial that eventually is resolved in a very sensual way, but I would be reluctant to stick an "erotica" tag onto the book because sex isn't the main theme.  That privilege belongs to desire, which isn't the same as making like rabbits for the hell of it.

But erotica has come a long way in the last twenty years.   Most of it is read by women and on the whole they expect a romantic element, imaginative sex scenes and, heaven forbid, a plot!  Oh and, crucially, excellent writing.  This does not mean the artsy, dusty erotica of years ago, but well-crafted and fun to read stories by any number of gifted authors.  Unfortunately, only a few of them receive any credit and, gallingly, some have only become successful through clever media marketing, even though the product really isn't fit for purpose.  But that's the subject for another blog post!

Women are no longer afraid to say they enjoy reading rip-roaring sex, as long as it's consensual and believable.  No multiple orgasms just by looking into his baby blues.   Other issues have to be tackled first.  A credible plot has to develop along with the couple's relationship.  The characters have to become three dimensional so the reader actually cares about them before they get down and dirty.  And when they do, it has to mean something.

So you can have romance without erotica, but I'd argue that you can't have erotica without a splash of romance, because if it wasn't there, it would be porn.  As an author reluctant to pigeonhole myself, I would say that my fiction is contemporary, romantic, erotic and unpredictable.  Over the years the lines have begun to blur between the two genres and I'm happy to say I live in both camps. My only insistence in my own writing has to be a happy, or at least satisfying, conclusion.   It is romantic fiction after all!

To find out more about Jayne's work, visit her blog 
Or find her on Twitter, Facebook, Smashwords Goodreads Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk:  

If Lost Weekend Is So Great, Why Aren't I Selling More?

A total stranger last week said that Lost Weekend was, "What a wonderful erotic love story with lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming .... Couldn't put the book down ...." and another said, "This is a hot little story that packs a big punch. If you want to try erotica, but are slightly intimidated by the choice, this is a great starting place."

As a matter of fact, Lost Weekend is rated a 4 over 11 reviews on Goodreads too - and I'm including "Arnellie Abella" a hollow reviewer with 0 friends who appeared for a flash, rated a bunch of erotica romance stories with a 1 star and then vanished.

So why aren't I selling more?  Is it because it has the phrase "erotic romance" in the title?  Or aren't I getting out there enough?

I suspect it's the latter more than anything else so I'm talking to publicists to see if I can raise my profile.  And I'm looking for blog tours in September.  Let me know if you have a space to offer me!

Check out Lost Weekend: An Erotic Romance in Wales and connect with me on Facebook.

Guest Post: Bella Harte 5 Minute Marketing for Authors

Bella Harte is author of The Seraphoenix Saga.  Here she talks about must-know PR....

While this subject is as broad as it is long, this is my personal take on the matter in less than 5 minutes, and what may seem obvious to some, others may have inadvertently overlooked.
In my humble opinion - most importantly you need to arm yourself with the following basics:Author Website and/or BlogFacebook pageGoodreadsAmazon Author PageGoogle+Twitter
There are many more such as: Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, BookBlogs, YouTube, Tumblr, Reddit, StumbleUpon, My Library Thing & Hootsuite etc... 

However using so many will eat away at your time, which is precious enough.  So stick with a few and update, update, update. Interact as much as you can, by following, friending, commenting, liking, tweeting and offer to host authors on your blog. If you promote them, the chances are they will promote you.  Be open to guest posting too, this is another way to garner a wider readership. 

Two rules not to forget:  Be interested in others, if you’re not interested in them, how can they be interested in you. Secondly always say, thank you.

Online Book Blog Tours are another great way to promote your novel/s. There are many choices available; I actually work with Lady Amber’s Tours to promote many different authors and genres with Blog Tours, Book Blitz’s, Day Release Blitz’s and Give-Aways.  When there is a potential team of over 200 bloggers working for you all over the world, this equals great publicity. 

Offer ARC’s, Advance Reading Copies of your novel to Bloggers, not only do you get feedback prior to general release, you also get featured reviews. 

Another idea, when Tweeting use a hashtag that’s associated with your novel. For example I use #YAPNR #YALIT & #ASMSG
There are so many other ways to target your audience, but sadly my word count is up. (Actually I think I blew it! ♥ Many apologies  ♥)

If you have any questions or would like to tell me that you already knew this and wanted something else, please leave a comment.

Guest Blogger: Charlotte Howard on Self Publishing

You probably think that as I have no authority when it comes to telling someone how to self-publish successfully. You’d be right. I have a publishing contract, and my attempt at self-publication failed miserably. So rather than telling you how to do it, I’m going to tell you how not to do it by pointing out all the mistakes I made.
1.      Ignore the word count and tell yourself 48,000 is a full-length novel.2.      Don’t edit it at all, in any way, shape or form.3.      Definitely don’t get edited professionally!4.      Take your family and friend’s critics as gospel and ignore everyone else’s comments. Especially those Negative Nellies. 5.      Self-publish just because you got rejected by the ‘Big Six’6.      Sign up to Amazon KDP and give them full exclusivity just for the free promotion days. 7.      Create your own book jacket using Paint or Word.8.      Over price it at $14.99 even though all the other books in the same genre are at $9.999.      Don’t do any marketing, don’t create Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, or a website.10.  Expect to be an instant best-seller and make millions so that you can retire after writing one book.11.  Cry when it fails, blame those idiots who left negative reviews, and refuse to write ever again.
Do all of this, and you too can join the club of thousands of failed writers!

Or… You can do the opposite, make your book the very best that it can be, and reap in the rewards by self-publishing successfully.
Charlotte Howard is the author of Seven Dirty Words (US$13.46) available in print & e-book, on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound. ISBN 0988493330 

After my failed attempt, I picked myself up, joined my local writer’s group, and spent longer editing my book than I did writing it. Voila! One publishing contract, one book and one sequel waiting to be published…

Coming Out Of The Closet

You may have guessed that Storm Chase isn't my real name. When I started writing romance erotica last year, I picked a pen name for several reasons.

First, I write for newspapers and magazines for a living and I wanted a separate personality for my fiction.  The reason I didn't want to capitalise on that is because I live in Malaysia, a Muslim country. Although I'm not Muslim, I didn't want to attract too much attention to the fact that I also write erotica. People here can be very weird about that.

When I was accidentally outed by a magazine a few months ago, I waited to see what would happen. Nothing spectacular happened, except that people began writing to the real me rather than to Storm Chase. This is a relief!

I also discovered it's pretty difficult to interact on Facebook as a Page because I can't befriend fellow authors, only fellow author Pages.  So to consolidate my fiction writing, I've decided to close down my Storm Chase facebook page and to move everything to my real profile.

So here it is: my name is Ellen Whyte, and I write romance erotica, contemporary romance with a hint of crime, as well as cat stories and word histories. If you want to come and hang out on Facebook, you'll find me here.

Should You Opt For Traditional Covers For eBooks?

When I set up my publishing plan, I thought long and hard about covers. For romance, and romance erotica, it's traditional to have a man who has lost his shirt, and a sexy looking girl who is about to lose her top. Problem is, I don't like those covers. I think they're tacky, tawdry and everything nasty that starts with a T.

So the question was: should I go for industry standard or not?

I looked at the online shops and discovered that all the ebooks look the same. That decided it. I made my own design.

I've been earning my living by writing for 16 years but cover design is new to me. I struggled and threw away umpteen designs before hitting on a look that I liked. My covers have lots of white space. This goes totally against the trend but I'm hoping it makes them visible and (really hoping here!) iconic. What do you think?

Storm Chase romance and romance erotica are available here, in Kindle, Mobi and other platforms, and for Paypal, Visa etc.

Guest Blogger: C.N. Faust "What Keeps The WHeels Turning"

Does anyone remember Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves?  If not, go rent it. Right now. I will wait.

There, now that you have caught up to at least the early nineties, do you remember that scene where Alan Rickman says he is going to cut out that guy's heart with a spoon, because it is dull and it will hurt more? That's exactly how I feel when dealing with the publishing world.  
In a world where I feel one bad review could be my ultimate downfall, what inspires me to keep going? The answer is usually "peace and quiet". Any author knows what it is like to try and write their next bestseller in a dark room crowded with characters who are bickering about who took the last orange soda. (What? You mean your  characters are not that petty? Well good for you.)  
Other than the desire for peace, my greatest inspiration comes from the people who have read my books. I will never forget the first time I finished the memorable kiss scene between my two main characters. My friend, who had been the first to read it, all but threw the manuscript and was near tears because they did not end up together. That is the kind of reaction that keeps me going. I thrive on emotional drama, and the more astonished / angry reactions I receive, the more I am inspired to go through with a project. 
Many authors will say they just write "for them", and to a degree I believe that is true. You may write "for you", but face it. You live for that reaction. 
C.N. Faust is an author of lgbt fantasy-horror by day and the co-publisher of Orcs and Aliens magazine by night. 
Official website BlogFacebook PageOrcs and Aliens MagazineOrcs and Aliens Facebook

Guest Blogger Bonnie Elizabeth: Inspiration: Why do you Keep Writing?

If you are a cat lover, you will know Bonnie as Chey's, Gemini's and Ichiro's servant from Cat Post Intelligencer. When Bonnie isn't slaving for her cats, she's busy writing.  Here is her post in Inspiration.    
Writing comes naturally to me so finding ways to keep writing comes easily. I have subjects running through my mind in the shower, at night, when I wake up in the morning. When I work out during the day, I’ll have ideas that pop up. The difficulty is not in finding something to write about but to find the time to keep notes on things that seem like subjects I want to tackle.
I have a file full of ideas. If an idea won’t go away, when it keeps coming back and crossing my mind, then it’s time to start a story. I do work from an outline or rather a sort of outline. I like writing a few paragraphs about what I think the story is about. At that point if there are things I need to learn, I’ll look into them. Sometimes I start working on names.
If things stop, then there are always other projects to start outlines on or finding names or moving forward with. I have a series of books as well as writing some stand alone books, so it’s easy enough to come up with another problem for my series characters to deal with. These problems are often things I come across in other books, wondering how would Meg (my main character) deal with that?
Ideas for short stories are harder for me. I’m rather long winded when I write so the novel or novella is a much better length. I like to know why things happen and putting all of that into a short story is harder for me to tackle, but it’s something I’d like to work on.
Every writer works differently, so good ways of coming up with ideas and being really inspired by them to write a story works differently for everyone. Paying attention to the news and reading books you really like is a good way to consider what you want to write.  I heard about a writing exercise where writers randomly looked up five words in a dictionary and had to use a story using all five of those words. I haven’t tried it yet, but I hope to sometime. Exercises like this disengage the mind from story telling and rather engages it with problem solving, which can let ideas flow.
Everyone should experiment with what works for them and then keep writing. The only thing I like better than writing my own work is reading someone else’s.
Check out Whisper Bound, Bonnie Elizabeth's book at Amazon and her author blog Big Fat Orange Cat. 

Eek! The Horror! When Editors Don't Do The Job

I don't know about you, but when I've written a story, I just can't see it anymore. I need a second pair of eyes to make corrections.
When Wildcat in Moscow was finished, I did a deal with a start-up publisher who edited it.

Man, what a disaster!

I read it the other day and found a dozen missed mistakes.  Now I know what the company didn't last.

I've corrected them and updated the book, complete with new cover. Still, I wonder how many people saw these problems and thought, "Hmmm, that Storm can't punctuate for toffee!"

Editing is tough and what I do now is:

Write the book on my PC Convert it and read it on my iPad Edit Send it to my brother (Hi Ian!) for feedback Edit Send it to Julie (Hi Julie!) who points out all my errors Edit Leave it a week Edit Publish 
It's a pain but I think I got all the typos now. What do you do to make sure your books are in good shape?

Read the first part of Wildcat in Moscow, a contemporary romance here.

Guest Blogger Michael Brookes: Why write guest posts?

Michael Brookes is a games developer but you probably know him as the host of The Cult of Me and the author of  Faust 2.0.  Here he talks about the role of guest blogging for authors.

Selling books is networking, it's all about finding new people who might be interested in reading what you have written. First and foremost you must write something worth reading, but when you have done that, what next?

There are a number of ways that you as a writer can make your name known and guests are a good way to do that. For authors who don't have their own blog presence it provides a mechanism to get involved. For authors who do have their own blogs you can host guest posts and gain interesting new content that attract s new readers to their blogs. Writing guest posts also puts your content onto other blogs, extending your reach beyond you own followers.

So you've been invited to write a guest post, what should you write?

That depends on two things. The first is to play to your own strengths. Guest posts shouldn't be an overt plug for your book, but that doesn't mean that you can't take lessons you've learnt while writing or releasing the book. If you've researched and discovered any interesting facts then they can form the basis of a post. If you write in a specific genre then you could write about that, for example I write horror stories, so one of my guest posts has been about the nature of evil.

The other consideration is the blog you are writing for. Speak to the blog owner, read their posts and get a feel for what their blog is about. Target what you write to their readership so that they may take interest and then investigate your other writing.

Most of all have fun. As with all writing, guest posts should be a pleasure, not a chore.

Is it the rebirth of an ancient evil in a new realm? Or something much worse?

A sexy looking avatar grants wishes for people across the web, but nothing is truly free, and for those who accept, what price must be paid?

Sarah Mitchell must discover the truth of this creature and stop it while it can still be stopped, but why is a mysterious lawyer dogging her every step?

Faust 2.0 is the first book in the new Mitchell & Morton series.
Available now on Kindle:
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faust-2-0-Morton-Mitchell-ebook/dp/B00CTA3YIE/
Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/Faust-2-0-Morton-Mitchell-ebook/dp/B00CTA3YIE/