Lisa Renee Jones's Blog, page 169
March 27, 2011
Fun video blog review of Michael from Sara Taney Humphrey's
Sara is also a Sourcebooks author with a yummy looking new series coming out! Check out the fun video blog review on Michael HERE
March 21, 2011
RT review for LEGEND OF MICHAEL is live!
It's live on the RT review site now so YAY!!!
http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-rev...
THE LEGEND OF MICHAEL ISBN 9781402251566
by Lisa Renee Jones
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Sensuality: HOT
RT Rating
Jones launches a new series with this thrilling story of love and determination in a society on the brink of war. Area 51 is a training and research facility for a new breed of soldier with a combination of alien and human DNA. Readers will be hooked by the intriguing couple and will be hoping for a happy ever after as the world and their small handhold on it begins to crumble. Jones' main characters are wonderful — both strong and needy — and she surrounds them with a strong supporting cast that will have audiences eagerly anticipating the next books in the series.
It's lust at first sight when psychiatrist Cassandra Powell runs into Michael Taylor on her first day at her new post in Area 51. Stationed at the base on her father's orders to evaluate the soldiers of the Zodius Project, Cassandra finds Michael intriguing and difficult to resist. As their relationship progresses, she discovers she is one of the few destined to be lifebonded to Michael.
Michael, determined to make up for his parents' mistakes, agrees to become a new breed of soldier in the Zodius Project, a GTECH supersoldier with alien-enhanced DNA. But when he realizes Cassandra is his lifebond, he will do anything to keep her from joining with him and completing the process. But when circumstances on the base change and the GTECH soldiers split into factions, Cassandra must question everyone, including the man she loves. (SOURCEBOOKS, May, 416 pp., $6.99)
March 20, 2011
Taking reviews on the chin…
Michael is my first single title, so I'm a nervous wreck hoping people will enjoy it. Romantic Times gave me 4 stars on Michael so I am clinging to that, hoping it was a good sign. But everyone likes different things. Some will love him and some will hate him. He won't hit shelves until May and that is going to feel like forever. Between now and May, reviews will start coming in from people that received arcs, so yes, there will lots and lots of nerves to endure.
As I wait for reader reception, there will also be lots of chocolate. Dove — milk chocolate and Ben and Jerry's chocolate Brownie Sundae treat me well. And if reviews are bad, I will eat MORE chocolate.
And by the way, for those of you who read my Underground Guardian series, the Zodius series is a spinoff of that series. I cannot wait to see Michael on the shelves. I am sure you will all hear me scream from my Colorado mountain top:)
Also — I will be doing a May blog tour and have some fun prizes! More soon!
To all those who pick up a copy of Michael, no matter if you love him, or not — thank you so much for the support!:)
Writing is such a privilege and I am thankful to have the opportunity every single day. Even when my characters will not cooperate like today.
Lisa
March 17, 2011
A taste of pleasure cover and blurb
A Taste of Pleasure by Lisa Renee Jones
June at Harlequin on-line — a
nd for my readers– I will be posting a steaming hot scene I had to cut because of word count for free June 1 here at my website.
Blurb:
Eight years ago, Sarah Michaels locked eyes with Ryan White at a sinful sex club. His dominant presence exuded erotic promises and aroused part of Sarah that she didn't recognize. But Ryan was her family's chief rival in the candy business, the very definition of forbidden fruit
Since that night, Sarah has tried to deny that she wants what Ryan offers, that she actually wants to be dominated. Yet she can't stop fantasizing about him. When Ryan invites her to his elite club where power and pleasure go hand-in-hand, the temptation to explore her suppressed desires is too strong to resist. Is she ready to give up control to Ryan—a man who might never give it back?
Book one of The Masters series.
March 13, 2011
LOVE this commercial because its SO me!
YES! I am THIS blind without my glasses/contacts!
March 12, 2011
Teachers…the good and the bad
This will be an unpopular post but its one close to my heart. My son has ADD and his school years were a struggle. It was a very special very new and young Special ED Teacher who helped him begin to read in the third grade. In Junior High he had and equally special Special Ed Teacher. In High School — I filed a State complaint against the school for poorly handled Special Ed accommodations and I did it not just for my son — because I didn't want other kids to experience the discouraging incompetence mine did.
Here is my issue with Teachers Unions. They provide tenure often after a few years. Bad teachers CANNOT be fire. I mean 99% impossible. These are not the teachers I want eating up state budgets and teaching my kid. Is it the the one's you want teaching your kids or the future leaders of our country?
This is a great article about teacher tenure HERE
If there is a layoff — the teachers with tenure stay. The teachers with bad reviews STAY. The good young new teachers like that one I cried with over my son's first read words, would GO. I would fight for those good teachers — I would picket by their sides and charge the capital. But I cannot fight for a structure that allows the bad eggs escape. That isn't fighting for the ones who deserve it. It's not fighting for our educational system which if failing for a reason.
If you want to tax someone to pay for the educational system — WH WHY WHY would you want to spend you money or theirs on a failing system?
So sure the teachers are fighting. Wouldn't you?
I beg of people to look at the big picture. And this collective bargaining thing is over benefits. It's not over pay. It doesn't even take away their promise a job forever than none of us get. I think people think its taking away pay or security that it is not. But it SHOULD. I say FIGHT FOR THE GREAT TEACHERS who deserve to be fought for. And thank you — including to Diego's DAD — who is a lifetime teacher who loves his job. BUT just say NO to teachers who have a free ticket to not care for the rest of their lives.
I'm passionate about this because I cried so many tears over my son's learning disabilities and I saw inside the school system in ways that were so disheartening. But again — there are jewels out there that deserve so much — something has to change though to be sure we are taking care of the jewels not the rocks.
Lisa
February 27, 2011
February 24, 2011
Agent talk
Recently, myself and several author friends have found it necessary to change agents. I can happily say that my close friend Donna Grant and I both signed with new agents last week that we are both super excited about. How we ended up at the same place– feeling the need to make a change at the same time — is amazing to me, but it sure helped having her to go through it with. From the process, I can say I learned a lot.
It's interesting to me that what becomes important as you become published verses what is important after you are unpublished really changes. When you are new you aren't complicated, you have no previous history or sell through numbers. You write one thing and one thing only — whatever gets you that agent. And you take that agent — without a lot of questions.
It's far more complicated for a published author and I'll explain why. First, let me start with the things I've learn I don't want in an agent and I suggest most authors don't want for themselves:
–Someone who signs you because you represent money but doesn't love your work. I highly recommend you shop with a new proposal and you find out the agent you sign with loves it like you do. And don't stay with an agent out of fear of being without an agent if they don't love your work. It makes YEARS go by and your career gets in a rut.
–Someone who doesn't want you to write the genres you want to write — and just says no instead of helping you find a way to reach that goal — be it a pen name or whatever. If you want to write cross genre have a proposal ready in each area. No you aren't going to shop them all now, but you need to know the agent likes your voice enough in those genres to shop you in them. If they don't — later you will have a problem. I had THREE proposal ready, all in different genres.
–Someone who doesn't treat your money like its their money even though it is! They get paid when you get paid. But if your small checks — until they get bigger –seem unimportant and move slow — that's a problem. It means they aren't likely to be devoted to making them bigger.
–Someone who doesn't understand why money is important. They can't ask you to treat this as a business and then not understand why profit isn't important to you but they sure like their money. We have to make a living too. Someone who helps you figure out the best way to do that and CARES counts. If that means they make you a commodity to make money themselves — PLEASE do!
Things I found to be important outside of the above:
–You connect with the agent and they connect with you and your work. That doesn't mean they need to be your best bud. It means you connect on your career and on business. Nice is always, well, nice, but its not a requirement for me. I want sharp and hungry, not nice.
–Someone who is actively selling in your genres. This is so key. Just because they say they want to sell in your area does not mean they can, or know how to help you do it. Look at the track record.
–If you are published in mass market or trade — ask how they will deal with Borders returns and your next advance. That will effect sell through and I be used to lower advances. You need to know how the agent feels about this and your past numbers in general. Here is a short definition of sell through here.
–How does the agent feel your career has gone so far and where do they think it should go and by when? Does that match your goals. And how will they help you do this?
–How do they handle foreign rights? Giving away foreign rights to a publisher isn't as advantageous as having an aggressive agency selling them.
–What is the agents history and feelings about your main publisher?
–This one is big — don't just look at who the agent represents now. How many of those authors did they actually sell? Or did someone else sell them and they got them later? You want an agent with a good track record of SELLING. Not just taking other peoples clients.
–If people left the agent –why? Ask the authors who left. Then take the information and realize that everyone gains and looses clients from/to other agencies. What are the reasons and how do they fit/not fit what you need.
–How fast did the agent respond to your query? If it was slow do past authors say they have bad communication? Sometimes queries just get pushed down the long list of emails. Sometimes its a sign. And how excited does the agent really seem about you?
–I've noticed that some well established agents get big named authors and they get regular big checks. They don't need to do the work to develop authors anymore and they don't want to. Others STAY HUNGRY. I remember DH asking me how UFC Randy Couture kicked so many younger guys butts and guys younger than him were already too old. I said — Randy still WANTS IT. Age rarely kills someone in their field of expertise, its desire being lost that kills them. I learned in business –surround yourself with people who know more than you and you will shine. Make sure the agent not only knows more than you, but is still HUNGRY to apply that knowledge. If they are young and eager, that's great too. Just make sure the knowledge is there supporting them. Hungry is hungry. It counts in a big way.
–Is the agent an editing agent and do you want that? If you don't you need to steer clear. If you do — great. But ASK. Don't find out later.
–How do they handle submissions? Ask. You think it doesn't matter until it does.
Well — I think that is a load of information. I hope it helps at least one person:)
All I can say is YAY! My agent search is over and I am SO thrilled with where I landed. And YAY for Donna. She is super excited about her new agent as well and I am excited for her.
And thanks to Donna — who held me together like glue through the process:)
