Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 123

Talking grilled cheese and skateboards today

Yes. The two really can go together.

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Source: linzersinlondon.blogspot.com via Anita on Pinterest

 

Go over to Paperback dolls to see how.

Available now…

So it's here.  Hope and Remy's story.  I like this book.  I don't say that about many of my books, so either people like it a lot, or it's going to tank.

(Please, God, I worked really, really hard on this trilogy...I'd like to see it not tank.  Love, me)

I'm out and about in blog land a lot, guest blogs and such, so make sure you keep up with the schedule in the sidebar...sometimes there are giveaways.

And one more scene from IF YOU SEE HER...

"You've got this way of looking at me that makes my heart about stop."

"Is that good thing or bad thing?"

"I'm still trying to figure out it out."  She popped a bite into her mouth.

Remy gritted his teeth and had to spend the next thirty seconds with gritted teeth as he waited for her to chew that bite and swallow.  "What do you mean, you're still trying to figure it out?"

She shrugged and reached for her tea.  "Just that.  I'm still trying to figure it out.  But I think it was an altogether bad thing, I wouldn't have come in here and I wouldn't be sitting here, either."  She took a drink from her tea and then, still staring into the glass, she said, "You make me nervous.  I'm used to being nervous, but not like this."

Nervous…hell.  He could understand that.  He opened his mouth, then closed it, entirely too uncertain with what he wanted to say, what he needed to say, what he thought she might want to hear and what might scare her to death.

He reached for his sandwich, although he was no longer at all hungry.  "Would it make you feel any better if I told you that you make me pretty nervous, too?"

Hope snorted.  "I don't want lines, Remy."

"That's good, because I don't waste my breath on them."  He took a bite of his sandwich and washed it down before it turned to sawdust in his throat.   "I tend avoid complications and you've got complication written all over you."

"Gee, thanks."

He grinned.  "And here I sit, trying to figure out the best way to convince you to go to the drive-in with me this weekend."

"The drive-in?" A wide smile lit her face—one that damned near transformed it.  She went from being pretty to…breath-taking.  She literally stole his breath, sucked it right of him.

He felt like he'd been sucker-punched as she leaned forward, smiling at him.   Her eyes, when they didn't have all those sad, somber shadows, almost danced, he thought.

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Also...don't forget this contest

If You...

Coming soon…

Check out what starts next week...

This week, I'm...

here

Romance @ Random 1.30

here...

Paperback Dolls 2.1

and... here

Writerspace 2.3

In one word…

This is how I picture Hope...

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Source: kaganga.com via shiloh on Pinterest

 

And if I had to sum her up in one word, I'd use this one word...

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Source: stopthinking-justdoit.tumblr.com via Taryn on Pinterest

 

Excerpt...

Opening his eyes, he studied her heart-shaped face. Without all that hair, she didn't look so fragile, he realized. Not that she really was, he was coming to realize. A fragile woman would have broken after what had been done to her. No matter what people thought, Hope hadn't broken. She had been forced to bend, to take unimaginable shit and heartbreak.

But she hadn't broken.

She had to be one of the strongest women he'd ever met.

Still, just looking at her flooded him with the most insane urges—the need to protect her. The need to touch her. The need to fuck her. The need to see her laugh. To smile…at him.

 

Read more...

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Curious...if you had to sum up a character in one word, who would it be, and what is the word?

Myke's Winner…

Okay, so the winner of Myke Cole's book from the other day...Cheryl...

She commented:

Awesome! Romance from a guys perspective? Oh yeah! Just let me know when to buy the book. Thanks for sharing.

If you can use the contact form to contact me, I'd appreciate it!

Something odd….Saturday Snippets

Something odd is the theme...how is this for a meet cute?

"So.  You're Law Reilly."

Somewhere in the back of his head, a siren started to wail.

He really, really needed to listen to it.

But he was still so caught up in staring at her…it was until she had that gun pointed at his head that he fully realized there was a problem.

*G*

Excerpt...(Just three days now)

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Other snippet-y authors...

Megan Hart -- Read in bed!

Eliza Gayle

Rhian Cahill

Anne Rainey

Jody Wallace

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Alison Kent

Delilah Devlin

HelenKay Dimon

Leah Braemel

Shelli Stevens

TJ Michaels

Zoë Archer

Friday 56…If You See Her

Not much time left until this is out...

"I can't give any good reason why I picked this up,"

Ezra said, his voice distracted. "I was staring at the

house, watching it go up in flames, thinking about how proud Grandma always was of that house, how much she loved it. I was so fucking pissed. Still am. I looked down, and there it was."

About the Friday 56

Grab the book nearest you. Right now
Turn to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Preorder...

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Blog tour stuffs… winner stuffs…

And yes, I did redo my blog again. O.o

Are you all watching the blog tour?

If not...here ya go.

1/23 - The Book Vixen

1/24 - Urban Girl Reader

1/26 - Under the Covers

1/27 - I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read!

Also... there's going to be a different sort of blog tour coming up next month...see the banner just up top of the blog?  :-)  Wait and see.  No questions yet.

Now, remember the IF YOU contest?  Viola... another prize.  This one is $10 GC to either Amazon, BAMM or BN, winner's choice. And the winner is....

Nat C...

Nat, if you can email me...you can use the contact form on the blog to get in touch and we'll get your prize taken care of!

The next prize, guys, is a nice one.  I was hoarding it.  If you want a chance, just check out the IF YOU contest.

My fave character…

Law.

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Source: via shiloh on Pinterest

 

 

Okay, so he's not the main character in this book. And yeah, yeah, his hair should be longer.

But if you read his book without reading the other two? You're missing out.

So I can totally use this picture to push my upcoming release. O.o

And BTW…this is how I kinda see Remy.

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Source: via shiloh on Pinterest

 

 

Excerpt…

"I've got a job to do. She was attacked." It was the truth. It was also almost trite, because job or no job, Remy knew he would have been out there. For Hope. Sooner or later.

And as though he had read Remy's mind, Law's mouth curled into a one-sided smirk. "So this is just the conscientious DA doing his job?"

Remy stared at his hands for the longest time, unsure of what in the hell to say to that. What in the hell could he say? He couldn't get involved with Hope, even assuming she might have once been remotely interested. But there was a hell of a lot more than just a professional concern on his part, and he couldn't honestly say otherwise.

Feeling raw, exposed, he looked up at Law and as met the other guy's eyes, he realized he probably didn't need to say a damn thing.

Law already knew.

Shit.

Coming off the chair, Law shoved a hand through his hair and, and in a perfect echo of Remy's thoughts, he muttered, "Shit."

Then he shot Remy a dirty look and muttered, "This would be a hell of a lot easier on me if I could just kick you the hell out of my house, keep you the fuck away from her."

"Could you do that?"

Law snorted. "With Hope? Yeah." He sighed and shot a glance at the door. "She's…damaged. You get that? Damaged in ways I don't think you really understand right now. You might think you do, but you don't. And she trusts me. That means if I really wanted to keep you the hell away from her, if I thought you were bad for her—it would be shitty of me to do it, but I could it."

Then their gazes met. Hazel rested on blue.

Law sighed and said, "I'm not going to do it."

More…

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Seriously… again.

So somebody out there is knocking romance.  Again. Yawn.  This one is almost entertaining because…

He starts mentioning how romances won't ever be discussed in colleges, when they actually already are.  Ask Sarah of Dear Author or ReadReactReview… a couple of smashingly brilliant women who happen to be scholars.
He actually mentions a professor at Harvard?  And gets her sex wrong…and misspells her name.  Yes, this, clearly, is a man we should listen to…
He has a donate button in the sidebar of his blog.

(ETA…by the way, I think I took out the links in the pic, but they were in his blog until he deleted them.  His name is Cale McCaskey.  If you want to read his stupendous…google.  I don't wanna give him more blog hits)

Wince.  Sorry.  I'm kind of leery to give a lot of weight to an writer who does that.  Especially if he's not offering anything but a few overblown opinions. Plus, he knocks romance.  Hello… he clearly does not get just how much we read.  Or what we read.

Me? I read:

Romance
Urban Fantasy
Fantasy
Thrillers (some)
Science Fiction, although pal…I won't touch yours
Horror (when I'm in the mood)

Guess what…so do a lot of romance readers…we are voracious readers.  But once somebody knocks my genre of choice?  On that DO NOT BUY…EVER…list.

Anyway, carrying on.

I made a comment.  He deleted it.

So I made another.  Here's the text, since I'm sure he'll delete it again.

Wow, so having it pointed out to you that your blog, does, it fact, have a donate button bothers you, huh? Or is it the fact that the romance novelist who is making the comment doesn't need one on her blog the rub?

Don't worry, I'll screen cap the comment and blog and save the JPEG so I can post it my site for my own follow up post tomorrow.

Anyway, the point of my comment WASN'T the donate button, which you apparently took issue with-but the fact that romances brighten peoples' lives. Because certainly, that can't be the problem, and thus the reason you deleted it.

I mentioned that I've had readers email me about how the fact that a book where a heroine overcomes rape and abuse and goes on to work with abused kids. The book helped some heal. It helped others find a voice. Surely you didn't take issue with that. Why would that bother you?

It couldn't be the fact that I've had readers email me thanking me for helping them through loss, divorce and illnesses, whether it's a cold or cancer. Why would you take issue with that? Unless, of course, it challenges your viewpoint on romance.

I clearly stated that I don't know if my books will ever be discussed in colleges or universities and I'm not bitter over this-because I bring a bright spot to lives. That's enough for me. Why would that comment have bothered you? Not sure.

Yeah, it had to be the donate thing. And I also admitted it was petty. It's truth, but petty. If it bothers you…well, I could apologize, but it would be lying, because I'm not sorry. I don't believe in saying things I don't mean.

Perhaps I'm not a good liar…however, I'm a pretty good story teller.

Before you knock romance, try writing one. And selling one…not on the kindle or the nook, but the hard way. To a traditional publisher. It's not as easy as one might thight.

And damn.  I made a typo.  Oh, well.  As one might think.  What do you expect of a no-class romance writer, anyway?

Oh, by the way…here's the screen cap.

The screen cap, again, is because the first comment got deleted.  Yeah, I was a little flippant, which is my norm. But I was actually well behaved, for me.  Oh, well.

Whatcha gonna do?

He also deletes comments like mad, just FYI.  Sarah from DA made a particularly brilliant one that called him on a few of his errors…

Sarah S. G. FrantzJan 24, 2012 07:47 PM

The International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (http://iaspr.org) is an academic organization that is devoted to the study of romance in all popular media. This, of course, includes romance novels.

IASPR (of which I am the President) has an annual international conference (http://iaspr.org/conferences) and a fully peer-reviewed academic journal (http://jprstudies.org), both of which strive to demonstrate how romance narratives operate in our lives. Courses that focus entirely on or include popular romance novels are indeed taught regularly at many prestigious universities around the world, including, yes, Bill Gleason's courses at Princeton University.

While I'm sure none of this academic interest in popular romance fiction will change your mind about its literary merit, worth, or value, I thought your readers might be interested to know it's out there.

In her Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen, the Ur-Mother of Romance, said of "novels" — the "popular romance fiction" of her day — that they were, "in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language." The same might be said of romance novels today, word for word.

While your personal opinion is valid merely because it's yours, it does not make it fact, nor does it invalidate other peoples' opinions to the contrary. And some of those people DO have Ph.D.s from and teach at incredibly prestigious universities.

(Jung Choi, by the way, is female, and does, in fact, teach romance novels at Harvard, her status there not-withstanding.)

Screen cap of that one…

So she points out that there are, in fact, academic organizations devoted to romance. (Which kinda proves the dude wrong, yeah?) And he deletes them.

Plus, he also gets Jung Choi's (I'm sorry, not familiar this individual) sex wrong. Deletes the comment correcting him.

Wow. Why delete that? Unless of course he can't handle having somebody point out the places where he was…kinda…ya know…wrong?

He's allowed to have his opinion, sure. We're allowed to have ours. We know the power of romance.

When I miscarried, I wanted a romance. I wanted things that brought me pleasure, that made me smile.

When I had the hell year in 2010 and lost not just one friend, but three?  I wanted something that would make me smile.  I wanted a romance.

Somebody mentioned:

AJAJan 18, 2012 06:02 PM

Agree. These books neither challenge nor engage on any meaningful level.

I've lived.  I've lost.  I work in a very stressful, hectic career. Beyond that?

I have a happy, healthy marriage and you want to talk challenges?  That is one.  We're raising three kids.  That is a challenge.  I have challenges. Life brings me challenges.

When I read romances, they make me think…and yes, they do…they make me think, they take me to magic places, they take me back in history, they take me to alternate worlds, they make laugh, they make me cry.

M-W.com:

en·gage (link)

: to provide occupation for : involve <engage him in a new project>

Yes.. these books involve me.  In short… they engage me.  Do they engage others? Yes…millions… Most of us are college educated, involved in a committed relationship, and we read romance because we enjoy them.

On that note…let me introduce myself.

I'm a nurse, although I only work enough to keep my license active. I've been a fulltime writer since 2004. I'm married. Quite happily, to my high school sweetheart.  We've been married more than 15 years now.

We have three kids. The older two are in the honors program and my son, it's suspected, is well beyond 'gifted'.

My oldest daughter is 12 and has written more than five books already-plus, she's also had a book read by an editor and an agent.

My youngest is five, and if she turns to the dark side, the whole word in trouble. She is already 'writing' her own songs, and trying to play the guitar.

So please tell me… how am I 'contributing' to this staggering illiteracy problem, may I ask?  By raising some super-sharp kids who are already reading well above their grade level?  Like many romance readers, I passed my love of reading on to my kids.

My passion is romance…the stories, contrary to what you think, are not the same. Because they are about two people falling in love, and the journey of falling in love is never the same.

Why do I love romance?  Because, plain and simple, I love character driven stories and I love that slow, gentle glide into love, that crazy free-fall.

It's the most amazing thing.  I feel it every time I look at my husband.  When he sits at the table and teases the kids, or me.  I love to experience the milder side of it when I'm sitting down and reading a good romance…it's a milder side, because nothing compares to the real thing.  But the journey is always fun.

Nothing other genre out there offers me that.

Now…before you persists in knocking romance, how formulaic and easy they are to write?  (And therefore publish, I'd assume)…perhaps you should write one.  Sell it. Publish it. And not on a self publishing platform, either, because anybody can do that (although not many can do it well).  But do it the hard way.  The traditional way.  You might be surprised at how hard it is.

I dare you.