C.J. Fallowfield's Blog, page 11
October 3, 2014
Three Author Takeover with Amazon Gift Cards up for grabs!
This evening, Friday 3rd October 2014 from 4 p.m. EST / 9 p.m. GMT, I will be joining Georgia Le Carre and Lan LLP for a three author takeover of "A Dirty Book Affair" facebook page.
We're all giving away Amazon gift cards and there will be eBooks as prizes too. Come and join us for a chance to win and some guaranteed steamy conversations given we all write erotic romance!
Hope to see you there!
CJ x
We're all giving away Amazon gift cards and there will be eBooks as prizes too. Come and join us for a chance to win and some guaranteed steamy conversations given we all write erotic romance!
Hope to see you there!
CJ x
September 23, 2014
10 Things you didn't know about C.J. Fallowfield
I was recently asked to detail ten things my readers wouldn't know about me for a guest post with Christine's Words Blog:
1. The idea for Gabe’s character came from my first crush. I walked into a lecture hall and saw his toned backside as he bent over while he searched for something in his rucksack. Sadly he turned out to be an actual arse, so we parted ways. Gabe is everything that my first boyfriend wasn’t! But I do have to credit him with the idea for the way Gabe and Mia meet in New Leaves, No Strings.
2. I spent years searching for “the thing” that I would enjoy doing. I’ve worked as a Banker, Mortgage Adviser, Financial Adviser, Personal Assistant, Office Manager, Finance Manager and Accountant. I’ve done numerous courses and have qualifications in Social Sciences, Counselling, Financial Planning, Information Technology, Management and Accounting. I finally did evening classes in creative writing, loved it so much that I did an Advanced Diploma in it too, and that’s when I decided to write my debut, New Leaves, No Strings.
3. My cat is my biggest help when I’m writing. She forces me to take breaks with one of three tactics. Lying on my keyboard and smirking. Meowing incessantly for food as she stares at me with big green begging eyes, or depositing the foulest smelling items in her litter tray and then racing out of the cat flap, leaving me with watering eyes to go and clean up the offending item.
4. I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I eat nothing with a face. It started after my Social Science’s University module where I had to watch a film of a cow being slaughtered. I ran from the room and was physically sick. I was so upset that I couldn’t sleep most of that night, then I couldn’t bring myself to eat meat or fish the next day. That was thirteen years ago and I can honestly say I don’t think I’ll ever eat meat or fish again. I never preach to others who do eat it, it’s simply just not for me and I hate when people try goading me into debates about vegetarianism. I wish that they’d just accept my personal decision that I don’t want to eat it. Simple as.
5. I have very crappy instincts when it comes to men. I hone in on arseholes who end up breaking my heart, more fool me for staying with them too long. So I loved writing Gabe Austin. He was the guy I wanted to fall in love with, the guy I wished I’d had, the guy I hope I will eventually. I would prefer he be a bit closer in age to me, I don’t see myself as a cougar!
6. My mother is French and despite having lived in England for over 50 years, still has a noticeable accent. She was a single parent, caring for my older brother and I at a time when divorce was a rarity, as well as being in a foreign country away from her family and friends. I have so much love and respect for her. As my sole parental role model growing up, I learned a lot from her, which is why I guess I’m a feisty independent female and like my female characters to be that way too. Unfortunately one of the things I learned from Mum was the French inability to pronounce their “TH’s”, so I still have this affliction now. Trying to say the number “three” to a voice activated answer system when you suffer from this is no fun at all and frequently leads me to have phone rage!
7. I have mild OCD which manifests in me being super organised, which my friends find hilarious. Everything has to have its place. DVD’s and books are all in alphabetical order (this to me is just logical, how else do people find what they are looking for?!). My wardrobe is organised by colour groups and within the colour groups by length of garment. I have to have the same coloured pins on my notice board and just can’t cope with tubs of multi coloured paperclips. If I eat Jelly Belly’s, I have to separate the flavours into their own piles before eating any. My weird little quirks affect no one but me and don’t take over my life, so I don’t stress about them.
8. C.J. Fallowfield is my pen name. C and J are the initials of my real first two names, but my surname is the street I first lived in as a child. Some of my family are super religious, so I feel like I have to hide my true identity for fear of offending them. I hope that one day I will be brave enough to show my real face instead of my “logo”.
9. I have a phobia with rough cardboard. I can’t bear the feel of it. Some people hate nails on a blackboard, for me it’s rough cardboard. So I can’t buy eggs in boxes that aren’t plastic, and have to wear gloves to unpack printer cartridges, as they always wedge that damn stuff on each end of one.
10. I’m a Joss Whedon fan girl! Or rather middle aged fan woman. Back in the day I was mad on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse and Firefly. I went to a Buffy convention in London many years ago and I managed to get to meet my three favourites, Spike (James Marsters), Graham Miller (Bailey Chase) and Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and have my picture taken with them. And I’m not even embarrassed telling people! The man is a genius in my eyes.
1. The idea for Gabe’s character came from my first crush. I walked into a lecture hall and saw his toned backside as he bent over while he searched for something in his rucksack. Sadly he turned out to be an actual arse, so we parted ways. Gabe is everything that my first boyfriend wasn’t! But I do have to credit him with the idea for the way Gabe and Mia meet in New Leaves, No Strings.
2. I spent years searching for “the thing” that I would enjoy doing. I’ve worked as a Banker, Mortgage Adviser, Financial Adviser, Personal Assistant, Office Manager, Finance Manager and Accountant. I’ve done numerous courses and have qualifications in Social Sciences, Counselling, Financial Planning, Information Technology, Management and Accounting. I finally did evening classes in creative writing, loved it so much that I did an Advanced Diploma in it too, and that’s when I decided to write my debut, New Leaves, No Strings.
3. My cat is my biggest help when I’m writing. She forces me to take breaks with one of three tactics. Lying on my keyboard and smirking. Meowing incessantly for food as she stares at me with big green begging eyes, or depositing the foulest smelling items in her litter tray and then racing out of the cat flap, leaving me with watering eyes to go and clean up the offending item.
4. I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I eat nothing with a face. It started after my Social Science’s University module where I had to watch a film of a cow being slaughtered. I ran from the room and was physically sick. I was so upset that I couldn’t sleep most of that night, then I couldn’t bring myself to eat meat or fish the next day. That was thirteen years ago and I can honestly say I don’t think I’ll ever eat meat or fish again. I never preach to others who do eat it, it’s simply just not for me and I hate when people try goading me into debates about vegetarianism. I wish that they’d just accept my personal decision that I don’t want to eat it. Simple as.
5. I have very crappy instincts when it comes to men. I hone in on arseholes who end up breaking my heart, more fool me for staying with them too long. So I loved writing Gabe Austin. He was the guy I wanted to fall in love with, the guy I wished I’d had, the guy I hope I will eventually. I would prefer he be a bit closer in age to me, I don’t see myself as a cougar!
6. My mother is French and despite having lived in England for over 50 years, still has a noticeable accent. She was a single parent, caring for my older brother and I at a time when divorce was a rarity, as well as being in a foreign country away from her family and friends. I have so much love and respect for her. As my sole parental role model growing up, I learned a lot from her, which is why I guess I’m a feisty independent female and like my female characters to be that way too. Unfortunately one of the things I learned from Mum was the French inability to pronounce their “TH’s”, so I still have this affliction now. Trying to say the number “three” to a voice activated answer system when you suffer from this is no fun at all and frequently leads me to have phone rage!
7. I have mild OCD which manifests in me being super organised, which my friends find hilarious. Everything has to have its place. DVD’s and books are all in alphabetical order (this to me is just logical, how else do people find what they are looking for?!). My wardrobe is organised by colour groups and within the colour groups by length of garment. I have to have the same coloured pins on my notice board and just can’t cope with tubs of multi coloured paperclips. If I eat Jelly Belly’s, I have to separate the flavours into their own piles before eating any. My weird little quirks affect no one but me and don’t take over my life, so I don’t stress about them.
8. C.J. Fallowfield is my pen name. C and J are the initials of my real first two names, but my surname is the street I first lived in as a child. Some of my family are super religious, so I feel like I have to hide my true identity for fear of offending them. I hope that one day I will be brave enough to show my real face instead of my “logo”.
9. I have a phobia with rough cardboard. I can’t bear the feel of it. Some people hate nails on a blackboard, for me it’s rough cardboard. So I can’t buy eggs in boxes that aren’t plastic, and have to wear gloves to unpack printer cartridges, as they always wedge that damn stuff on each end of one.
10. I’m a Joss Whedon fan girl! Or rather middle aged fan woman. Back in the day I was mad on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse and Firefly. I went to a Buffy convention in London many years ago and I managed to get to meet my three favourites, Spike (James Marsters), Graham Miller (Bailey Chase) and Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and have my picture taken with them. And I’m not even embarrassed telling people! The man is a genius in my eyes.
Is there a place for Humour in an Erotic Romance Novel?
What do you think? Does erotic, romance and humour go together? I think so. Here's a link to an article I wrote for a guest post with Underneath the Covers blog:
Putting my sense of humour into my series certainly wasn’t intentional. All of the erotic romance novels I had read, up to when started my own manuscript, had the odd line of humour, but I hadn’t read one that had whole scenes based around the humour.
While the overwhelming majority of readers have loved and embraced it, there are those who don’t believe it works, which is fine, we all like different things. I adore chocolate, but I hate chocolate ice cream. My style of erotic romance isn’t going to suit everyone who likes erotic romance, and as a writer I have quickly learned that you definitely can’t please all of the people all of the time.
So, while I didn’t intend to write humour into my series, that’s my personality and it’s crept into my writing regardless, I just couldn’t help adding it. I tend to see the funny in situations that others don’t. When I was rushed to hospital by ambulance after a serious burns accident, the paramedics were amazed that I was laughing. “How can you laugh?” they asked, “This is serious, you have first, second and third degree burns.” I responded that given a choice of laughing or crying, I’d rather laugh. Laughing makes me feel better, and in this instance it helped keep me calmer in a stressful situation, kept my blood pressure down, all of which helped stop me going into shock and definitely helped me during my recovery. As “they” say, I truly believe that laughter really is the best medicine.
I really admire classic writers who create beautiful imagery line after line, whose books are almost like poetry, but for my personal reading style I find that I have to concentrate really hard to read them. Sometimes I just want to read an easy book, a book I can really relate to, that seems like a much nicer version of everyday life. A reader jokingly contacted me to ask if I was stalking her and her best friend, as the funny interactions between Mia and Lexi in The Austin Series were so similar to theirs.
The funniest scenes in my series are between the two girls. They are the sorts of interactions I have with my own best friends when we get together. One of us always says something stupid without realising it until everyone else bursts out laughing. Another will fart, then try and deny it, which has me in childish fits of giggles. We all watched Saving Private Ryan together, and I was the first to admit that I’d been secretly crying for half an hour, when the need for a tissue finally overtook me. We had to pause the film as everyone else was doing the same, too embarrassed to admit it, which we all laughed about after.
I may be forty-four years old, but inside I still feel like a teenager. I don’t want to get old inside as well as out. Yes, there are times for seriousness in life, but I’d rather have fun for the majority of it. Those grey hairs are starting to show, along with some fine creases on my face, but I can still bend over in hysterics at everyday human things. This is how my writing is, real dialogue, everyday situations, drama, misunderstandings, heart ache and passion. Lots of passion.
A few reviewers have suggested it’s not possible to have the amount of sex my characters have. From my personal experience I have to disagree, it is possible, maybe not for all, but definitely for some, especially at that age. I can remember being in my early twenties, in the first flush of lust and love, we were unstoppable and guys in their early twenties have incredible stamina and quick rebound times. One ex sprung erections quicker than I could recover from my own orgasms. Today I have mild TMJ, where my jaw is out of alignment, and I swear it’s down to me being too exhausted to keep up with him sexually and giving him a blow job instead on a regular basis. I have blow job repetitive strain injury.
I don’t know many people where sex isn’t a constant in the early weeks, or, if you’re lucky like I was, during those early months or even the first few years. And during that time who hasn’t laughed at an accidental clashing of teeth, the odd bashing of heads, a strained muscle from attempting a position in the karma sutra, a broken piece of furniture from over-zealous thrusting, the embarrassment of breaking wind or having an actual vagina fart during the act? Someone will always find humour in any situation, appropriate or not, and I wanted to reflect that in my writing.
The Austin Series is about ultimately about personal growth, sexual awakening, the bonds of friendship, first love, and the development of trust in a sexual and romantic relationship, with the view to the ultimate commitment and a happy ever after. I guarantee that in spite of the passion they have for each other, you will also see how far Gabe and Mia come in terms of their development as individuals, and a couple, from book one to the finale. It’s not just an erotic book, a romance book, or a funny book. It’s all of those combined along with situations that I hope will tug at your heart strings and have you crying tears of happiness and sadness. I also hope you will fall in love with a new book boyfriend called Gabe Austin, and two new best friends called Mia Page and Lexi Clarke.
So erotic romance and humour? Most definitely. In my eyes they are a perfect match and give my writing a touch of realism.
Putting my sense of humour into my series certainly wasn’t intentional. All of the erotic romance novels I had read, up to when started my own manuscript, had the odd line of humour, but I hadn’t read one that had whole scenes based around the humour.
While the overwhelming majority of readers have loved and embraced it, there are those who don’t believe it works, which is fine, we all like different things. I adore chocolate, but I hate chocolate ice cream. My style of erotic romance isn’t going to suit everyone who likes erotic romance, and as a writer I have quickly learned that you definitely can’t please all of the people all of the time.
So, while I didn’t intend to write humour into my series, that’s my personality and it’s crept into my writing regardless, I just couldn’t help adding it. I tend to see the funny in situations that others don’t. When I was rushed to hospital by ambulance after a serious burns accident, the paramedics were amazed that I was laughing. “How can you laugh?” they asked, “This is serious, you have first, second and third degree burns.” I responded that given a choice of laughing or crying, I’d rather laugh. Laughing makes me feel better, and in this instance it helped keep me calmer in a stressful situation, kept my blood pressure down, all of which helped stop me going into shock and definitely helped me during my recovery. As “they” say, I truly believe that laughter really is the best medicine.
I really admire classic writers who create beautiful imagery line after line, whose books are almost like poetry, but for my personal reading style I find that I have to concentrate really hard to read them. Sometimes I just want to read an easy book, a book I can really relate to, that seems like a much nicer version of everyday life. A reader jokingly contacted me to ask if I was stalking her and her best friend, as the funny interactions between Mia and Lexi in The Austin Series were so similar to theirs.
The funniest scenes in my series are between the two girls. They are the sorts of interactions I have with my own best friends when we get together. One of us always says something stupid without realising it until everyone else bursts out laughing. Another will fart, then try and deny it, which has me in childish fits of giggles. We all watched Saving Private Ryan together, and I was the first to admit that I’d been secretly crying for half an hour, when the need for a tissue finally overtook me. We had to pause the film as everyone else was doing the same, too embarrassed to admit it, which we all laughed about after.
I may be forty-four years old, but inside I still feel like a teenager. I don’t want to get old inside as well as out. Yes, there are times for seriousness in life, but I’d rather have fun for the majority of it. Those grey hairs are starting to show, along with some fine creases on my face, but I can still bend over in hysterics at everyday human things. This is how my writing is, real dialogue, everyday situations, drama, misunderstandings, heart ache and passion. Lots of passion.
A few reviewers have suggested it’s not possible to have the amount of sex my characters have. From my personal experience I have to disagree, it is possible, maybe not for all, but definitely for some, especially at that age. I can remember being in my early twenties, in the first flush of lust and love, we were unstoppable and guys in their early twenties have incredible stamina and quick rebound times. One ex sprung erections quicker than I could recover from my own orgasms. Today I have mild TMJ, where my jaw is out of alignment, and I swear it’s down to me being too exhausted to keep up with him sexually and giving him a blow job instead on a regular basis. I have blow job repetitive strain injury.
I don’t know many people where sex isn’t a constant in the early weeks, or, if you’re lucky like I was, during those early months or even the first few years. And during that time who hasn’t laughed at an accidental clashing of teeth, the odd bashing of heads, a strained muscle from attempting a position in the karma sutra, a broken piece of furniture from over-zealous thrusting, the embarrassment of breaking wind or having an actual vagina fart during the act? Someone will always find humour in any situation, appropriate or not, and I wanted to reflect that in my writing.
The Austin Series is about ultimately about personal growth, sexual awakening, the bonds of friendship, first love, and the development of trust in a sexual and romantic relationship, with the view to the ultimate commitment and a happy ever after. I guarantee that in spite of the passion they have for each other, you will also see how far Gabe and Mia come in terms of their development as individuals, and a couple, from book one to the finale. It’s not just an erotic book, a romance book, or a funny book. It’s all of those combined along with situations that I hope will tug at your heart strings and have you crying tears of happiness and sadness. I also hope you will fall in love with a new book boyfriend called Gabe Austin, and two new best friends called Mia Page and Lexi Clarke.
So erotic romance and humour? Most definitely. In my eyes they are a perfect match and give my writing a touch of realism.
September 9, 2014
Strangers for the Night - Pre-order links live!
You can now pre-order 'Strangers for the Night' my new steaming hot novella about Logan Steele, a high class gigolo from Amazon. If you pre-order Logan will be delivered to you on release day of 17th October and your card won't be charged until then.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NF30P4U
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NF30P4U
CJF x
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NF30P4U
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NF30P4U
CJF x
September 5, 2014
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September 3, 2014
Want to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card?
I am giving away a $10.00 amazon gift card as part of my Austin Series book tour with Tasty Tours during the month of September.
To be in with a chance of winning, check out my facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/cjfallowfield
Each week day I will post the link to that days blog host, where you can enter the rafflecopter to win. You don't have to enter each day, but you can increase your chances of winning if you do.
Some days there will also be reviews of my series and on 2nd September there was also an exclusive interview with me too.
Good luck to all who take part!
CJF x
To be in with a chance of winning, check out my facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/cjfallowfield
Each week day I will post the link to that days blog host, where you can enter the rafflecopter to win. You don't have to enter each day, but you can increase your chances of winning if you do.
Some days there will also be reviews of my series and on 2nd September there was also an exclusive interview with me too.
Good luck to all who take part!
CJF x
August 29, 2014
Five giveaways ending on 31st August
Don't forget to enter the following five giveaways, for a chance of winning a signed paperback copy of:
Baggage & Buttons
Forever & an Engine
The Honeymoon Period
Love & Loss
Infinite Love
All books from The Austin Series!
Good luck
CJ x
Baggage & Buttons
Forever & an Engine
The Honeymoon Period
Love & Loss
Infinite Love
All books from The Austin Series!
Good luck
CJ x
August 22, 2014
Win an ARC Signed Paperback of 31 Days of Winter
I am running a giveaway for one lucky reader to win an advanced signed paperback copy of the first book in my new series 31 Days of Winter. This will be posted to the winner before the book is released in either eBook or paperback format on Amazon and Smashwords.
To enter, simply click the link below to take you to the official 31 Days of Winter page on Goodreads.com and scroll down and press the "Enter to Win" button.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
The competition closes on 14th November 2014.
Good luck!
CJ x
To enter, simply click the link below to take you to the official 31 Days of Winter page on Goodreads.com and scroll down and press the "Enter to Win" button.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
The competition closes on 14th November 2014.
Good luck!
CJ x
August 21, 2014
The Austin Series Books 4 to 6 out now on Smashwords
You can now purchase from Smashwords:
The Honeymoon Period
Love & Loss
Infinite Love
I have no control over how long it takes for Smashwords to update their affiliate sites like Barnes & Noble or iTunes, so please keep checking your sites.
Happy Reading!
CJ x
The Honeymoon Period
Love & Loss
Infinite Love
I have no control over how long it takes for Smashwords to update their affiliate sites like Barnes & Noble or iTunes, so please keep checking your sites.
Happy Reading!
CJ x
August 16, 2014
The Austin Series Complete Box Set - Available to Pre-order exclusively to Amazon
The Austin Series Complete Box Set is now available for pre-order from Amazon exclusively. Here are the US and UK links, but it's live everywhere!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MS02X78
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MS02X78
The official release date is the 1st September 2014.
It's a saving of over 25% compared to purchasing all the books for free, and you get nearly 2,000 pages of steaming hot erotica, swoon worthy romance and laugh out loud humour - at nearly 900,000 words, it's sure to keep you occupied for a while!
Happy reading all.
CJ x
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MS02X78
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MS02X78
The official release date is the 1st September 2014.
It's a saving of over 25% compared to purchasing all the books for free, and you get nearly 2,000 pages of steaming hot erotica, swoon worthy romance and laugh out loud humour - at nearly 900,000 words, it's sure to keep you occupied for a while!
Happy reading all.
CJ x
