Erin Ashley Tanner's Blog, page 4

GUN MOLL Blurb Reveal

 

          I talked in my last post about the exciting series I have upcoming with my wonderful co-author, Bethany-Kris. The first title in our Organized Crime series is Gun Moll which will be releasing May 23rd. Enjoy the exclusive blurb below.

James “Mac” Maccari’s career in the mafia is at a standstill. As the best solider in his Capo’s crew, all he wants is to be noticed enough to get Made in the Pivetti Crime Family. But instead, his Capo’s interests seem more focused on keeping his solider hidden from the boss, and every other Made man he can. Seemingly stuck right where he is with no chance of going up, Mac doesn’t know what will finally get him the attention he needs to earn his button.

Until she shows up and all eyes are on them …

Melina Morgan survives—that’s just what she does. She’s never been able to depend on anyone but herself to keep her safe and get things done. When a chance encounter puts her in a bad situation with the cops and the mafia, Melina has no choice but to put her faith in the hands of a man that not only infuriates her with his cocky arrogance, but catches her interest, too. Playing pretend in a fake relationship with Mac doesn’t seem all that terrible, until pretend turns real and bullets start to fly.

A man is nothing without his woman …

When the attention on Mac and Melina turns from bad to worse, and someone in the Pivetti Crime Family decides the couple needs to go, they know they’re fighting an uphill battle alone. But making it to the end alive means Mac could get what he’s always wanted, and Melina might find what she didn’t even know she needed.

Together, they’ll make waves the mafia has no choice but to notice …

NEW HORIZONS

        It's been quite a while since I blogged and a lot has happened in the meantime. For starters, I am no longer represented by Holloway Literary Agency. After thinking over it for a while, at this point in my career I decided that I wanted to pursue the self-publishing route. This is not to say that I will never seek an agent again. It's just right now I'm at a different space and want to pursue other avenues. Now onto other news.


      I'm sure that many of you have heard that Samhain Publishing is in the process of closing. Although that is still currently the case my novel that is already contracted with Samhain WILL STILL be published. That's right folks. Look for Devious Little Lies in June.

Here are the juicy taglines:
  They say love is complicated. They never said it could be deadly.
  Sometimes the thing you want most can cost you everything.  Devious Little Lies is an older woman, younger man organized crime romance. Be on the look out for it.      In additional news, some of you may have seen me tweeting about a super secret project. Well that super secret project is finally finished. Look for Gun Moll, the first book in the Gun Moll series from author Bethany-Kris and I in May. Yes, I'm doing a co-author project and couldn't be more excited about the exciting world and characters we've created. Stay tuned Monday for the official blurb reveal.      And....I'm also working on a currently untitled contemporary African American romance that I hope to release as my first solo self published project before the end of the year. Stay tuned for more details.


THE YEAR IN REVIEW & LOOKING FORWARD TO 2016

            2015 is in the books and now we are in a brand new year. With every new year, I look back and evaluate what the previous year has brought me. 2015 was a year of transition for me, personally and professionally. I graduated from nursing school, passed state boards, started a new career and moved back to a bigger city. So yeah a lot happened in real life, but what about in my Erin the Author life?  July- Dirty Little Secrets, my first romantic suspense novel was released by Samhain Publishing on July 21st. I was also offered a contract for my 2nd romantic suspense novel, Devious Little Lies.  Was that it? Yep. This was a slow year writing wise. I can only hope in 2016 I will find myself back in the saddle. So what do I hope to accomplish this year?  1. Complete and submit, Goddess by Surrender, my 3rd Demi-god Daughter novel for publication.  2.  Promote the release of my 2nd romantic suspense novel, Devious Little Lies, on June 21st.  3. Complete and publish the 1st novel in an organized crime series with a fellow author.  4. Self publish Diary, the 1st novel in a fairytale retelling series called Chronicles of an Ugly Stepsister.  5. Complete the 1st novel in The Corrupt Cassinellis organized crime series, Deadly Arrangement.  Looks like I need to get writing. What are you looking forward to in 2016?

DROWNING

Drowning.

It's how I've been feeling for the last few weeks. (And no I do not mean literally drowning.) I mean creatively drowning. You see a lot is happening at once for me. I'm in the midst of relocating with my family and once again I'm on the search for another job. That would be a lot for anyone, but add trying to build a career as a brand new nurse and burgeoning author at the same time. Yeah it's a lot. I find myself up at night unable to sleep as my mind constantly races. Insomnia has become my new best friend.

The job market still sucks right now. I've accepted that and I'm also aware that landing another gig may take some time. What I didn't expect was that the thing in life that has brought me so much joy, my writing, would instead turn to another source of frustration and worry.

I'm in the midst of a rewrite of my next upcoming release that is taking me forever. My enthusiasm for the story is waning. I've also started about 10 chapters into a brand new Mafia series, The Corrupt Cassinellis and I've written about 2 pages into my 3rd Demi-God Daughters book, Goddess by Surrender. My interest in everything is pretty much gone at the moment. I love writing, but lately I've had no desire to write a single word. I thought it was just the pressure of "real life," affecting my creativity but it's more to that.

I'm burned out with the struggle. I'm tired of seeing mediocrity rewarded and I'm tired of being pressured to conform to what everyone else is doing in order to sell my novels.

It felt good to get that off my chest.

I started writing because it brought me joy. I started writing because it was fun. Somewhere along the way writing stopped being fun and it became work. And when it became work it became stressful. That's not what I want for my muse or me. I want to get excited about the thought of sitting down to work on something. I don't want to spend my time trying to put myself on a schedule or forcing myself to write something in a hurry so I can try to cash in what's trending now.

Writing is supposed to be an escape.

Writing is supposed to be fun.

My characters are supposed to dictate what I write and not anyone else. So for now I'm going to take my time. I'm going to stop pressuring myself and just write. It may take a while before I have another release, but so be it. My next release may be so far out of left field of what's currently selling but who cares. I started creating the stories I wanted to read and I need to get back to that because there are enough people in this world co

I AM WOMAN...HEAR ME ROAR

Bitch.

Ball breaker.

Have you heard those terms used before?

I'm sure you have. You've probably heard them used in reference to strong women. The fact that these terms are even used to describe a woman with strength, that does not need a man to take care of her signifies that we have a real problem in society.

Some readers who have read my third novel, Dirty Little Secrets, have called my heroine, Ava, such names. At first I was angry and thought, "What's wrong with them?" Eventually I got over it and just didn't care.

Ava Hill is the widow of a mob boss. Prior to that she was his goomah for many years before he decided to marry her. In that type of situation it's pretty clear to me why Ava would be guarded and have issues trusting anyone. Do I think that makes her a bitch or a ball breaker? No. Ava is a strong woman who knows what she wants and will take crap from no one. It is one of the things I loved most about her chracter.

I grew up with a love of Disney Princesses (I still love them honestly) and in most all of the movies, the princess had to be saved. Though those movies and characters will forever hold a special place in my heart, let's be real, we girls and women can save ourselves. We don't need a man to do that for us. So instead of tearing down women that take no crap from anyone and women that can manage fine with or without a man let's celebrate them.

I AM WOMAN. HEAR ME ROAR!

In honor of strong women everywhere, I'd like to share with you some of my favorites from books, TV and movies.

REGINA MILLS/THE EVIL QUEEN- ONCE UPON A TIME

DAMALI RICHARDS-RIVERA- THE VAMPIRE HUNTRESS LEGENDS BY L.A. BANKS

AVA JEROME-GENERAL HOSPITAL

ANNALISE KEATING-HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

CATRINA "CAT" DANZI-MARCELLO- DANTE: THE FILTHY MARCELLOS BY BETHANY-KRIS

GABRIELLA ALEXIS SANDOVAL-REVOLVING DOORS BY PERRI FORREST

LUCKY SANTANGELO-GOLDEN- THE SANTANGELO NOVELS BY JACKIE COLLINS

CLAUDIA ZACCHARA-GENERAL HOSPITAL

These are just a few of my favs. Drop me a line to share some of yours.

A TRIBUTE TO JACKIE COLLINS

"My heroines kick ass. They don't get their asses kicked."-Jackie Collins
      When I read the news that Jackie Collins had passed away from breast cancer, I thought it was a hoax. It couldn't be true. But then I read the statement issued by her family and with a sinking feeling in my stomach I knew that the magnificent woman who'd sold half a billion books and was a consistent figure on numerous best seller lists was really gone.
   
     The first Jackie Collins novel I ever read was Dangerous Kiss , A Lucky Santangelo Novel. At the time I read Dangerous Kiss, it was the most recent in the Lucky Santangelo series. Lucky was a gorgeous, business savvy mob princess who didn't take crap from anyone.. Call me biased but I think Lucky Santangelo is the greatest female character ever written. It was then and there that my love of Jackie Collins' novels was born. After devouring Dangerous Kiss, I read the rest of the books in the Lucky Santangelo series before moving on to reading every book Jackie had written at the that time. Today I own them all.

     Years ago I wrote to Jackie and received two autographed photos of her. They are among some of my most prized possessions. I would often go to Jackie's website and listen to her interviews. Her wit, sassiness and take no prisoners attitude always made me eager to go pick up my pen and start writing. When I tweeted to her November 12, 2013 about her being such an inspiration and she responded back my life was made.
      Jackie inspired me to write. Her stories that highlighted a woman's strength, and sexuality were cutting edge and ahead of their time. Jackie didn't write cookie-cutter characters, especially women. She firmly believed that a woman could do anything a man could do and not only her writing life, but her real life reflected that as well. "I live my life like a bachelor. I have a man for all seasons," she is quoted as saying. Jackie was a woman who lived by her own rules and she let nothing define her.      Before there was erotica, there was Jackie. Before there was Fifty Shades, there was Jackie. She is a pioneer in the literary world. A woman who created characters that represented people from all walks of life and from every race, background, religion and sexual orientation. Jackie created stories reflective of the world we all live in.      Though she is gone, the stories and characters she created will forever live on. I'm sure that I am one of countless people that Jackie influenced in some way. Goodbye Jackie, you fantastic woman. There will never be another like you.                            Jacqueline Jill Collins October 4, 1937- September 19, 2015 

FINDING YOUR NICHE

        Life has really gotten in the way lately and I mean real life...the Erin Ashley Tanner separate from being an author. But I'm here now and I hope things in my author life will soon come together as well. So today's topic: FINDING YOUR NICHE. What does this make you think about? For me it has come to symbolize a struggle with myself and what the world wants me to be. This has been a lifelong struggle for me, but I foolishly thought it would never spill over to the thing I love most: writing. I was wrong. So very wrong.           At this moment I have 6.5 novels under my belt, 3 published, 1 to be published and 2.5 languishing away wondering when the hell they are going to get a home or be revised again. I've written paranormal romance, interracial and multicultural but at this point I have no idea where I belong. What is my niche? I write romance. Beyond that everything else is pretty much up in the air.      To date my best selling novel is Goddess of Legend. I have no idea what it is about that novel, but it's done pretty good. The categories it was placed in: African American Urban, Science Fiction and Fantasy. In those categories GOL was in the top 100 categories for a good 2 to 3 weeks which was absolutely amazing to a first time author. It still is.      My follow up Goddess by Chance shifted to some different categories: African American Romance & Multicultural and Interracial Romance. Let's just say GBC did not enjoy the success of its predecessor. I'm not sure why, but possibly the category switching had something to do with it.      Then there comes Dirty Little Secrets, the novel that garnered me a two book deal with Samhain Publishing. I could tell how much my writing had improved and that I was finally coming into my own as an author. DLS was placed in the categories of: Multicultural and Interracial, Multicultural and Contemporary. Let me be the first to say that those are some tough categories. Really tough and the audience for those holds no punches back if they don't like something.     So what has all of this taught me? I have no idea where in the hell I'm supposed to be. Is Paranormal Romance my strongest suit? Or do I really have a baseline of comparison to draw from either way?     Do I think GBC would've done better if it remained in the same categories as GOL? Yeah I do. Do I think DLS would've done better under Romantic Suspense and Organized Crime? Yes I do. But you know it doesn't really matter now. What does matter is that I find out where I should be going forward.    I love to read pretty much everything and I want to write everything, but there comes a point where you have to play to your strengths. It's time I take some serious time to figure out what mine is because after all how can you build an empire if you haven't figured out what to build on? And that is where I'm at. I'm taking some time to listen to my muse's voice and the longings of my own heart to truly find where is my niche.        

WRITING REVELATIONS

          You live and you learn and then you get LUVs. Anybody remember that commercial? I do and I remember thinking how cute it was then. Now, I see a nugget of wisdom in there that I've often ignored. "You live and you learn." For the past few weeks, this writer has been in an artistic funk. Not only has my muse decided to take a vacation, but my own self doubts about my place in this literary world have been plaguing me almost nonstop.        As a writer you're often given the advice that each novel you produce should be better than your last. I've tried my best to adhere to that bit of wisdom, but what happens when you do just that and the stars still don't align? Well if you're me you fall into a funk of catastrophic proportions. You ask yourself should I stop writing? What's the point? Nobody is buying it. Yeah. That's just what I did, had a pity party on an epic scale. It felt good to have a tantrum in all honesty, but once that was over I still was left with a very important question: What now?       Anyone who knows me is aware that I'm a woman who believes in having a plan. So what did I do next? I took a look at all of the novels that were getting rave reviews and selling pretty decent and thought that I need to try to emulate that. If I write the way those writers are I'll be sure to reach this mountain I've been pushing so hard to climb. So I read the first few chapters of some of these so highly rated best selling novels and you know what happened? I was bored to tears!       Yes. You heard it right. As a reader I was bored and I couldn't understand how people were getting past the first chapter, much less giving these books 5 star reviews. So then I got angry. No way was I ever going to be able to write like those people. I'd bore myself to death first. That plan dead in the water I searched through some novels I'd absolutely adored and loved and I thought I'll try to write like them. But that experiment too failed and I found myself having to face a hard truth.     You can't write like anyone but you. Yes. Let that sink in for a minute. Just as in life, with writing we all have to be ourselves. There already is a J.K. Rowling and a Jackie Collins. Those spots are taken and you will drive yourself crazy trying to emulate what has already been done. So be yourself. Write the stories that make you happy. Write in the style that makes you enjoy every minute of whatever you're working on. Love your story for being uniquely yours. You don't need to be anyone else but you.    This has been a tough revelation for me to swallow. Ever since I gave into the call to write all I've ever wanted was to see my name on a best selling list and there is still a chance that could happen one day. I'm still a fairly new novelist with just 3 books under my belt, but if it doesn't I have to learn to be okay with the place I'm at. That means not looking at my stories and saying, "It's not true to life mafia enough," or saying, "This might be a little too gritty for some readers," or  "Yeah, maybe you need to hang it up." No. My muse is who she is and I'm sure that if I just keep listening to her, she will continue to give me stories that I will love to write, worlds that I will love to explore, and one day maybe a Best Seller title.       But in the meantime I have to learn to be happy with the works I've created and remember that no matter what these stories came into fruition for a purpose, even if I can't yet see exactly what it is. BE YOURSELF.

MUSICAL INSPIRATION: DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS

     As a writer sometimes I write to music and sometimes there is just one song you find yourself listening to over and over again. Selena Gomez's The Heart Wants What It Wants was that song and I'd say it perfectly captures the relationship between Dominic and Ava. You might even say it's their theme song. Enjoy.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: OLDER WOMAN, YOUNGER MAN ROMANCE

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: OLDER WOMAN, YOUNGER MAN ROMANCE          I've been a fan of the romance genre since the first time I started reading my mother's Harlequin novels when I was ten. Like any young, adolescent girl I was drawn to the older, mature hero who knew just what to say to sweep the heroine off her feet. And to this day I am still a fan of the older man, younger woman romance. It just appeals to me in a way I probably will never be able to fully explain.
        But like most things in life, eventually you branch out and discover new things. Believe it or not the same thing happens with writing. Especially when life hands you just the right inspiration. For me this bit of inspiration came from my favorite soap opera, General Hospital. The lone ABC soap now, it has been a part of my life ever since I can remember.        Well ladies and gents, meet Ava Jerome and Morgan Corinthos, collectively known as Amor.            This controversial couple lit up my television with undeniable chemistry and sex appeal. Morgan Corinthos is the youngest son of daytime's leading mob boss Sonny Corinthos and Carly Jacks. Ava Jerome is the half sister of rival mob boss Julian Jerome. Ava and Morgan's sexy hook up began when Morgan (who was married to Ava's daughter, Kiki,) was dumped by his wife for his brother! Yes. Isn't that all kinds of juicy?         Anyway, Morgan sought refuge with Ava who had just been rejected by her daughter's father because he was in love with her niece, Sam. Did you get all that? Yeah. Messy isn't it? What it all boils down to is Morgan had sex with his mother-in-law, Ava. When everyone in Morgan and Ava's lives found out, the shit really hit the fan but it didn't matter. What had started out for both of them as just a rebound fling to cope with their disappointing love lives soon blossomed into real love and many steamy nights and mornings full of passionate romance.      In the character of Ava you have a sexy, vivacious 40 something year old woman who knows just what she wants and is not afraid to do whatever is necessary to get it. With Morgan you have the typical young man trying to find his place in the world while being all too confident in his burgeoning sex appeal.      As I continued to watch the relationship of these two characters unfolding on my screen I started to think about writing a new story. I knew my heroine's name was going to be Ava naturally and as thoughts swam around in my head the first line of Dirty Little Secrets was born. As I continued to write I soon had created a super sexy romance featuring an older widowed mob wife and a younger, virile man. And to think this all started from watching a soap opera. Thanks General Hospital.      What are some things you have seen on TV or read about that have inspired your writing?