Christa Simpson's Blog, page 18

Twisted Book Blitz

My Family’s Heart is holding a one-day book blitz for Twisted and 45+ bloggers are participating!!! Thanks to all of you who helped out.

What does this mean for my loyal readers? Scroll to the bottom and get in on that super awesome GIVEAWAY!!!

TITLE – Twisted

Book 1 in the Twisted Series

AUTHOR – Christa Simpson

GENRE – New Adult Romance

PUBLICATION DATE – February 27, 2013

LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 314 pages / 99,000 words

PUBLISHER – Black Widow Publishing


BOOK SYNOPSIS

Can a man and woman be “just friends?”

After graduating from law school with honours, Edwin Santora, Abigail’s occasional ex and handsome housemate, could get a job anywhere he wants. Of all the places to land, why does he take a position with her small firm? As if sharing a house with her irresistible ex isn’t bad enough, it quickly becomes the least of her concerns. When Edwin’s macho arrogance begins to seriously affect her dating life, Abigail starts to reconsider their friendship; not that Edwin believes a man and woman can be “just friends” anyway.

With Edwin’s swoon-worthy stunts and fierce persistence, Abigail finds herself catching feelings. When Edwin makes a friendly proposal, no-strings-attached, Abigail can’t resist.

After some sexy role playing, she finds herself dangerously in love and wrapped back up in Edwin’s powerful grip. When Abigail risks everything, revealing a treacherous little secret, will their friendship pass the test? Or will they give in to the mysterious forces trying to drive them apart?

BUY & TBR LINKS

AMAZON KINDLE US – AMAZON KINDLE CA

AMAZON KINDLE UK – AMAZON PAPERBACK

BARNES & NOBLES NOOK – BARNES & NOBLES PAPERBACK

SMASHWORDS – IBOOKS

GOODREADS – KOBO

EXCERPT

Edwin Santora’s eyes were on me the second our solid wood door clunked shut. After kicking off my shoes and giving a silent wave to my brooding, shirtless roommate, I rushed directly upstairs taking two steps at a time.

Within seconds, Edwin was flying up the stairs behind me, all brawn and pride. He stalked me down the hall, his large agile physique a shadow of stealth.

No matter how smooth Edwin thought he was, I could always sense when he was lurking around.

I disappeared into the bathroom, ignoring his approach, heart still racing, cheeks flushed with a healthy glow. It had been way too long and it was time for me to move on with my life. The days of Edwin and I were over and I had finally faced that fact. For that reason, I trusted my matchmaking to an eager co-worker. What else could I do? I didn’t seem to have any luck finding myself a man.

Edwin filled the doorframe with his imposing shoulders. “Where are you going all dolled up like that?”

I should have slammed the door shut behind me while I had the chance. The last thing I needed now was Edwin giving me a hard time. It had been months since my last date and let’s just say that it’s not possible for this one to go any worse than that one had.

After carefully touching up my mascara in the mirror, I twirled around to face him, my glossy, brown hair fanning out behind me. “I got a date!” I smiled from honest excitement, but I really didn’t have time to chat about it.

“Who is he?” Edwin pried.

“You don’t know him.”

Edwin’s chest flexed under my warm gaze, his abs held tight, sculpted from stone. Oh, I love watching him sweat. He narrowed his aqua eyes in response to my devious smile. Then, as if on cue, the doorbell rang.

I made my way to the bathroom door, but Edwin boxed me out with his hip and took off ahead of me. He hurried down the hall with swift, powerful strides, every muscle in his body twitching with adrenaline. There was no point in trying to fight him for the front door. He had me beat.

“Do you think you could put on a shirt, Eddie? Please?”

Edwin shuffled down the stairs and ignored my request. “I’ll get it,” he hollered. He was all too eager to answer the door and his mischievous grin gave away his greedy intentions.

“Edwin, be good!” I warned, stopping at the top of the open staircase.

“What? I’m always good.” He flashed me a sly smile and raised his dark arched eyebrows.

I knew it meant trouble, as the butterflies danced nervously in my tummy. Edwin had better not blow this one too. He had a tendency of scaring away my dates. It was getting old. I clung to the wooden post, hoping the poor guy would pass the test.

Edwin opened the front door ever so slightly and started in on his usual act, deliberately blocking my view. Bastard. Then he cracked the door open a little farther, teasing, his generous back still in the way.

He folded his bulging arms over his impressive chest and stared down at my date with eyes dark and voice low. “Can I help you?” he asked firmly, acting all macho.

I nearly burst out laughing and had to hide the smile on my face to show that I was not amused. Even if I was.

“Is this the home of Abigail Jenkins?” the poor guy asked, hesitantly.

“Yes,” Edwin answered, but he didn’t invite him in.

“Edwin!” I warned, scowling at his back. I’d had enough. As I started down the stairs to intervene, I struggled to interpret their mumbling. It was time that I took things into my own hands.

AUTHOR BIO

Christa Simpson is a small town Canadian girl who enjoys beaches, dancing and dirt track car races. She lives in Tilbury, Ontario, with her husband and two beautiful daughters. On an ideal day you’ll find her relaxing on the beach, reading by the poolside or getting into trouble with her girls. You’re more likely to find her procrastinating with her bestie, working her butt off or chauffeuring her active family around.

Christa delivers in modern day fantasies with the most captivating alpha men and her breezy, entertaining writing style. She’s an all or nothing kind of girl whose mission in life is to prove that women do it better. Her romance novels are loaded with passion, suspense and sarcasm, much like her life. Pick up the first books in her Twisted and Destiny Series for free—no strings attached!

AUTHOR FOLLOW LINKS

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE – WEBSITE / BLOG

FACEBOOK – TWITTER

GOOGLE+ – PINTEREST

GOODREADS – INSTAGRAM

VINE

GIVEAWAY PRIZES

Twisted Swag Pack (Bookmark, keychain, magnet & more!)

1 e-copy of The Twisted Trilogy (3 books direct to kindle)

3 e-copies of Twisted Desire (direct to kindle)

Enter The Authors Amazing Giveaway – Click Here

Introducing: Love Kissed Book Box!

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Have you heard? Love Kissed Book Box is a monthly subscription box for signed books. With two options to choose from, there’s something for every book lover. Plus, personalize your interests to ensure you receive the romance sub-genres you enjoy!


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Who wants to be a BETA READER?

This is it… the last call for beta readers.

If you want a chance to beta read this much anticipated erotic thriller of the year, you must sign up today!

I’m searching for beta readers for my newest story! If you have a love for dark, twisted romances, or suspenseful erotic thrillers, maybe you’ll be interested in joining my beta team for this one.

The book: www.christasimpson.com/playing-house

If you’re interested in applying, please fill out this quick questionnaire to help me choose the right candidates for this project. Please understand these 7 simple questions are designed to create a beta team covering many different reader profiles. Your honesty is appreciated.

JOIN MY BETA TEAM HERE:

http://goo.gl/forms/KHk5jzHG90tgMeB82

PLAYING HOUSE, A Black Widow Novel

 She’s only playing. He’s playing for keeps.

My name is Clarisse Blackwell. With nothing left to lose, I am a dangerous woman. There’s a reason they call me the Black Widow. My boyfriend died trying to kill me and my husband died trying to save my life.

Destroyed by grief and consumed by an urge to bring revenge so passionately, darkness devours my soul. A master of persuasion, I trick and tease, reducing a grown man to trembling knees to make him see what it’s like to be me. He’ll learn the hard way, as you will, that my sweet revenge only feeds the dark thrill of causing others pain.

Lying. Cheating. Stealing. It’s what I do. You think you know me? You don’t, and neither does the man whose life mustn’t be worth living anymore. Our relationship is like an explosion set to detonate on my command. He thinks he knows me. His mistake. He thinks he’s different. He doesn’t believe I’m cursed. I’ll make him believe.

Lives will end, minds will be blown, and one thing is for certain:

the Black Widow will strike again.

Visit here to read an excerpt.

LAST CHANCE!

http://goo.gl/forms/KHk5jzHG90tgMeB82

June FREE For All!

Top Romance Authors got together to offer you 50+ books for FREE!

Don’t miss this event running from Monday, June 6th through Thursday, June 9th.

Sign up for access to these FREE romance reads available for download from Amazon.com!

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* Courtesy of Love Kissed Book Promotions.

Twitter’s New Character Limit Change

There has been rumor that Twitter will be making a major change in how it counts characters in TWEETS moving forward.

Links currently account for 23 characters of the 140 character limit. Rumor has it that Twitter Inc. will soon stop counting photos and links as part of its 140-character limit in as soon as two weeks time!

Bloomberg’s report credits “a person familiar with the matter” for spilling the beans. Oops! Let’s hope this person is correct.

I don’t know about you, but I welcome this change! It will give Twitter users more freedom to compose a complete message without having to use shortened words and disjointed sentences when the words just won’t fit.

While I love the short and sweet display of information on Twitter, which has been the thing that sets this social media company apart from all the rest, I can appreciate the need to add a few extra characters into the mix to stay competitive with the other big-guns like Facebook, Pinterest and Google Plus. Especially with the new GIF option on my Twitter app. Love those darn things.

How do you feel about the proposed change? Do you think this is a move in the right direction for Twitter? Let me know in the comments down below.

For more social media updates, marketing tips and other writerly things, join me on Twitter! I follow-back all non-spammy writers, bloggers and entrepreneurs!
www.twitter.com/christasimpson

ROMANCE FREE FOR ALL!

44 Romance Authors are offering their books for FREE!

Don’t miss this event running from Friday, May 6th through Monday, May 9th.

Sign up for access to these FREE romance reads.

Sign Up Link: http://madmimi.com/ signups/199239/join

Smoking HOT Sale

This four book series is on #SALE for a LIMITED TIME! ☆☆ $2.97 gets you 4 books! Regular: $9.97! That’s $7.00 worth of savings! ☆☆ LAST CHANCE!

 

| AMAZON | KOBO | SMASHWORDS | BARNES & NOBLE | iBOOKS |

There’s a first for everything. I’ve priced all my Twisted Series novels at either 99 cents or FREE! You can get all FOUR full length novels for the low price of $2.97! Regular: $9.97! That’s $7.00 worth of savings!! Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity. [image error]

Have a friend who might want some FREE or deeply discounted books? Share this post!

Paranormal Freebie

This is your last chance to pick up this spunky paranormal romance for FREE! You won’t be disappointed. Sale ends at midnight. Don’t delay!

www.BWPbooks.com/onyx-unleashed

Http://ViewBook.at/Unleashed

I’m Too Sexy For Kobo

It’s official: One of my books has been BANNED from a top-selling e-book retailer in Canada.

A Quickie Publishing Update

I’ve been indie-publishing on the Smashwords platform and distributing to Kobo through its premium catalogue since February 2013. I had successfully published seven (7) books this way and was looking to switch things up to maximize my profits this year. With the worsening CAD/USD exchange rate, I decided I would try my hand at publishing directly with Kobo for my next release, so I joined up at Kobo Writing Life. I figured, why not? I would collect a larger share of royalties, be able to monitor my daily sales, and the proceeds would be in Canadian funds. I could also enjoy the benefits of being a direct-publisher on their platform, and I did for a short while. Sounds like a win-win-win, right?

The good news . . .

TOUGH LUCK landed on two best-seller lists in Canada within the first 24 hours. Based on the number of sales in Australia, I’m willing to bet that I was ranking there as well, although I didn’t check.

The bad news . . .

Within a matter of days after the one month anniversary of publication, I received a love letter from Kobo expressing their regrets for blocking my publication.

The ugly news . . .

Of course, after my blood stopped boiling, I furiously read Kobo’s content policy (AGAIN) to scope out this preposterous violation they are referring to. Had I pushed the envelope too HARD this time? I did broach a sexy-sexy scene that I only re-read once for fear that I might nix it. No, no, no. That can’t be it. There is blatant erotica on their site. My book is properly labeled 18+ and I even put a pretty little warning after the blurb. It’s an erotic romance—with romance being the driving force for the story. The subtitle is “A STEPBROTHER ROMANCE”, so as not to confuse someone looking at the book for the first time, although “forbidden romance” gets the point across as well, I would hope.

The first thing I thought when I read inappropriate content was that it had to do with explicit sex–and there’s plenty of that in this book! I zoomed through the policy to the prohibited content and found no direct violation by me.

AUTHORS BEWARE!!!  Are you in direct violation of Kobo’s content policy?

Prohibited Content

Pornography, adult content, and obscenity:

Pornography, Nudity, and Sexually Explicit Material: Adult or explicit material depicting illegal acts or deemed to be exploitative shall be blocked or removed from the Website. See below for details regarding Kobo standards. If Your content contains appropriate adult or explicit material, please flag the eBook as containing mature content as a courtesy to other Users, so that they will have the choice whether or not to view this content. You can do this either in the metadata by providing accurate age ranges and subject codes, or by selecting the appropriate content classification in Kobo Writing Life. We reserve the right to put such mature content behind an interstitial.




Pedophilia, Incest, Bestiality, Exploitation and Sexual Violence or Force: Users may not publish written, image, audio or video content that promotes pedophilia, incest, bestiality, or sexual violence or force.




Violent content: Users may not publish direct threats of violence against any person or group of people. We also ask Users not to publish content that contains graphic violence. Users may not publish instructional material regarding the creation of weapons of mass destruction.

Let me start by saying there are no illegal acts or other deemed to be exploitative events in my novel. Dustin Miller is a strapping lad who’s out for a beer with his brother, the night before his father’s second wedding. This happens to be Izzabelle Spade’s birthday. She runs into his male perfection, or rather he scrapes her off the sticky floor after a rather embarrassing tripping incident, at this late-night lounge. They hit it off. She drinks too much. She passes out in the cab on the way home and he’s too tired to worry about it, so he takes her home with him—to his father’s new place.

Ooh, yes. The plot thickens.

So what if they’re soon-to-be related? They’re both grown, consenting adults who live in separate households and meet before ever knowing there will be any familial relation between them. This relationship is not taboo—not in this day and age. There may be one taboo scene, but it’s all in good fun and I’m sure every reader will get a small chuckle out of it.

Allow me to be clear. THIS IS NOT INCEST. There is no blood relation. These two adults are in their late twenties and have never met before. They did not grow up as siblings. They have no desire to glamorize their situation. In fact, they wish there wasn’t a situation at all! They like each other. Their parents are marrying. Big whoop!

Back to the alleged policy violation.

Did you really think I was going to roll-over and forget about it? Me? If your answer was yes, then you obviously don’t know me very well. I wrote Kobo, because of course I have questions about why my title has been blocked! Four days later I received this response.

“Your title was blocked because the content does not fall in line with our content policy: www.kobo.com/contentpolicy”

They further advised that, “We are unable to publish any title related to incest or pseudo-incest. Thank you for understanding.”

Go on, read the content policy. Nowhere in that policy do I see anything about “pseudo-incest,” and I guarantee you that little prefix makes a difference to most people.

For those who don’t know, pseudo-incest (uncountable) is defined as sexual activity between family members who are not blood relations. (E.g. siblings by adoption, stepparents, stepchildren and in-laws.)

Love is love.
Banning books about real social situations in today’s world is illogical and unfair. It’s discrimination.

I’m sure some of you may disagree with my position, and everyone is entitled to their opinion—even Kobo—but should we not allow our readers to decide what they will and will not read? Perhaps that’s exactly what’s happened here. And please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. There are no hard feelings here toward Kobo. I realize they’re only doing their job, but . .

It gets better.

To slap some icing on that cake, I searched Kobo’s site for other “stepbrother romances,” which I knew I would surely find. And guess what popped up? Easily 35+ books with “stepbrother” written right on the front cover of the book, most with shirtless men and bold print on the cover, quite similar to mine, in fact. I didn’t waste time searching any farther than that, but I can say that I have read one other stepbrother romance in my day and it was on that list. My story is erotic, but it is not that taboo. The couple in that other book actually lived together as brother and sister and consummated their relationship in their family home! How is it that my story got banned? Did someone report it? Is Kobo cracking down on “pseudo-incest?” I hope to find out soon enough.

Have you ever run into this before? Please share your story!

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Tough Luck is categorized as a contemporary, adult romance, and is erotic in nature, and therefore is for readers 18+ only. I strongly believe there is nothing in that book that any adult romance reader would find offensive.

Have you read the book? Please give me your thoughts!

Valentine’s Super Sale & Multi-Author Giveaway

8 winners! Join my mailing list and enter to win one of THREE Kindles or one of FIVE $25 Amazon gift cards!

http://eepurl.com/bQpV3T