#TuesdayToolbox - Favorite Romances that Influenced My Writing

I have always been drawn to relationship stories, happily ever after, and romance. I was first sucked into the Sweet Valley High series in middle school and always rooted for the good girl to win. A book I still remember from my early teen years is Dial L For Love by Marian Woodruff. In this teen romance, the girl began dating a socially awkward but popular football player who had his best friend call her pretending to be him, and the girl and the best friend ended up falling for each other. Decades later, I still remember the heart-wrenching emotion I felt while reading that story.

My first adult romance books were Johanna Lindsey historicals that I read late at night when my mother thought I was sleeping. Soon after, I moved on to contemporary category romances by Nora Roberts, Elizabeth Lowell, and Sandra Brown. I loved the emotional ride each author delivered in every book, and I lived vicariously through the heroines, experiencing love and heartbreak as they did. When I write, I hope to capture even a portion of the pure, raw emotion those stories inspired in me.

My all-time favorite hero is Kenny Karmody from Suzanne Brockmann’s Out of Control. That mix of sweet, vulnerable, tough, fearless, and irreverent made me fall head-over-heels in love in a way I never have before or since with any other book character. Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ First Lady is probably my all-time favorite book because every single character captivated me on every single page. When I finished that book for the first time, I turned to page one and immediately started reading it again.

Contemporary romances with memorable characters and pure, heartfelt emotion are the stories I love. They’ve stuck with me through the years, influenced the core of my writing, and are now the types of books I too write in the hopes they will to

uch others in the same way.

#TuesdayToolbox - Publisher Promotions - #Free Cookbook from @MusaPublishing

One of the awesome things about publishing with a reputable publisher is when they engage in a promotion to bring traffic and visibility to themselves to boost sales of all their books...and by extension your books with them. There are many different ways of doing this.

Two months ago, Entangled Publishing had all the Bliss books (including Construction Beauty Queen and Love Him or Leave Him) featured as a Kindle Daily Deal.

Last week, Decadent Publishing had a blogging extravaganza and giveaway celebrating the publication of the 200th 1Night Stand. Two of my books--More Than a Fantasy and One Night with the Bride--are part of this uber-popular series.

Musa Publishing turned two years old this month. To celebrate, they are giving away a free cookbook to everyone who purchases a book from their site during the month of October. The cookbook is a collection of 80 tasty recipes provided by 39 creative Musa Authors! Simply add the cookbook to your cart. At checkout the savings automatically appears on your invoice.

Tuesday Toolbox - Free giveaways from authors...or not - @samcheever shares her thoughts

by Sam Cheever

Some authors like to give stuff away and some don’t. I personally know one author who refuses to give away copies of her books and just gives bookmarks and trading cards away at conferences. No bling for her. She’s not alone. Promotional items cost money, giving away books takes sales out of an author’s pocket. But what about the old business adage, you have to spend money to make it? Does it apply to creative businesses as much as traditional ones? I think it does.

Nobody can chart a direct effect from a promotional item to a book sale. It isn’t possible to identify a monetary result, because it’s not a direct transaction. It really isn’t even monetary. It’s emotional.

People love getting free stuff. They especially love getting clever and useful free stuff. And when they get something they really like they generally remember the person who gave it to them. That’s why I love fun promotional items. When I start researching a new item to take to conferences or give out to new fans in their goodie boxes, my first goal is to find something nobody else has thought of. I rarely give out bookmarks anymore. I have boxes and boxes of them in my closet as proof! When I give away a print book I include a Romance Trading Card because those are collectors’ items and they’re more fun. I load heart-shaped memory sticks with free reads, book trailers, and first chapters and give those away. They’re useful, they bear my website and tagline on their shiny red surface, and they contain lots of fun reading and viewing that will hopefully inspire someone to buy one of my books. It’s a win-win! For my Declan Sands books (MM romance) I found a tiny tool kit with four screwdrivers and a tape measure. Again, useful, and bearing my website and tagline in case someone decides he/she needs a great book to read while repairing their computer with the toolset.

I have knit caps with my website on them, book lights with twisty stems, mouse pad planners that double as notepads, and lots of other fun stuff. Call me Author Santa. Yeah, the stuff costs and I have no way of knowing if I’ll recoup my investment in book sales. But when people receive a goodie box or promo item from me they remember it and hopefully they’ll remember me. In fact, people often come up to me at conferences and exclaim, “Oh, you’re the one with the great promo stuff!”

I just grin and offer them something else from my red velvet bag. ‘Cause I’m selling fun and smiles…hopefully I’ll even sell some books!

Happy Reading Everybody!

Bitten by Paranormal Romance gives Cupid a
4 – A Pack Howl!
"This is a delightful and sexy story of competition not only in the office, but between a cupid and a demon."

Long and Short Reviews:
"Cupid Only Rings Twice was a very cute story that was short but entertaining.”

This Valentine’s Day, Rori’s gonna meet an honest to god Cupid. And he’ll use more than arrows to win her love.

Rori Foster is too beautiful to find love. Men just can’t seem to look past her exterior to recognize the human being inside.

Unfortunately he’ll have to save her from the bad intentions of a cocky Love Demon first.
But Damios is determined to protect her. Even if he loses her in the process.

To read more or purchase Cupid Only Rings Twice please click the vendor's name.

Musa Publishing | Nook | Kobo |
Sony | ARe | Kindle | Amazon.uk
| Amazon.ca

Sam Cheever writes mainstream romantic suspense and fantasy, all heat levels; and Declan Sands for M/M romantic suspense and fantasy. Her books are fast paced and fun loving. Not one of them will solve a single world problem, but you definitely won’t be bored while reading them!

Sam’s published work includes 40+ works of young adult, romantic suspense, and fantasy/paranormal. Her books have won the Dream Realm Award for fantasy, been nominated and/or won several CAPAs, were nominated for Best of 2010 with LRC and The Romance Reviews, and won eCataromance’s Reviewer’s Choice award. She is published with Ellora’s Cave, both Romantica and Blush; Changeling Press; Electric Prose Publications (her own imprint), Musa Publishing, and Red Rose Publishing.

She lives on a hobby farm in Indiana with 11 dogs, 2 horses, and one husband.

Learn more about Sam Cheever on her blog Eclectic Insights. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter. You can also find Sam on Goodreads.

Tuesday Toolbox - READ! @kings_falcon delivers her Summer Book Report

SUMMER BOOK REPORT

The summer of “can’t put down” books

by Nancy DiMauro

Back to school is around the corner and I’m helping my two boys, who waited until the last minute (again) to complete their book reports. I decided to lead by example. I’ve already confessed to being a not-so-closeted romance reader and writer. You also know that my favorite time for reading romance novels is at the beach, and we’ve just returned from our family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. So, I thought I’d share 10 books from my summer reading list. It’s also a bit more eclectic than normal since I’m researching my next novel, Schrodinger Effect, which features Vonna from Paths Less Traveled. In no particular order:

1. Neil Gaiman – The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Fantasy.

Neil Gaiman started out writing a short story, but ended up with this lovely little novella. A suicide releases a supernatural creature into our world. In trying to send the creature back, Lettie Hempstock unwittingly allows it to lodge inside a 7 year old boy. Years later, that boy returns home for a funeral and discovers he’s forgotten about that summer day and the magic at the end of the lane.

This is a great little story. I fell into the narrator’s voice, spellbound. I finished it in one sitting, pausing only grudgingly to get a plate of food before the teenagers at the beach ate it all. The only criticism I have of it is the price-point. At $15.00 it’s expensive for a novella, and at $9.99 it’s a really expensive e-book. Now, I bought my advanced copy through Barnes and Noble because it was a signed copy. Still, I think the price is well worth it.

2. Kevin J. Anderson – Veiled Alliances – Fantasy.

In my opinion, Kevin is one of the greatest world-builders writing today. Veiled Alliances is a prequel to his Saga of the Seven Suns series. One hundred and fifty years after the Earth sent out its generation ships, Earth’s government has given way to a puppet king controlled by the Hanseatic League. The generation ships are found and given safe harbors by an alien race. With the gift of FTL (Faster Than Light) engines, Earth is poise on the brink of becoming a major player in the universe.

I “read” this one on audio book. The 4 plus hour recording got me most of the way to the beach. Unlike some prequels this one wasn’t forced or awkward. A large part of that is likely due to Kevin’s detailed outlining. Before Kevin had written the first word for the series, he would have already known the events set forth in this prequel. Whether you’ve read the other books in the series, or Veiled Alliances is your first journey to the Seven Suns, it’s definitely worth reading.

3. Jeaniene Frost - Halfway to the Grave. – Urban Fantasy with Romance.

Cat, the kick-butt heroine, is half-vampire. She hunts the undead in an effort to find and slay her father for destroying her mother’s life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire and vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership. Cat agrees to help Bones cull the undead population in return for his help finding and exterminating her father. Life and unlife is never that simple though, and Cat finds Bones more tempting than any man with a heartbeat.

I also finished this one in a day. The tone and take no prisoners heroine reminded me a lot of Gini Koch’s Alien Series. One of my friend loaned me this book at the beach when I’d run out of other stories. It was the first time I’d read anything by Ms. Frost. I’m definitely looking up the rest of the series.

4. Sloane Taylor – French Tart (Naughty Ladies of Nice) – Erotic Romance.

Donatienne Dubois pins her hope for a “normal” life on an exclusive cooking school in Nice, France. But one by one her expectations are shattered. Donni’s lifesaver is a bad boy too hot not to handle. For his part, Mark Anderson, is incognito, hating every moment. To pose as a student while keeping tabs on a rich wild child is his version of hell, until he partners with the dish of Crème Brulée good enough to eat.

I love Sloane’s writing and her ability to transport a reader to the exotic locations she sets her stories and her characters. French Tart, a novella, lived up to all my expectations for Sloane’s work. I especially loved the foul-mouthed parrot that develops a crush on Donni.

5. John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker – The Cases that Haunt Us – Nonfiction.

Certain homicide cases maintain an undeniable, almost mystical hold on the public imagination. This analysis of seven of the most notorious murder cases in the history of crime -- from the Whitechapel murders to JonBenet Ramsey -- often contradicts conventional wisdom and legal decisions. Using modern profiling techniques, the book reexamines cases we all know, and sometimes reaches fascinating and haunting results.

This is one of the many resource books I’m using for Schrodinger Effect. The writers take you through the criminal investigative process for each of the cases, noting how preconceptions or just investigative mismanagement affected the ultimate outcomes. A great resource and well-handled and sensitive narrative given the topics.

6. Brenda Novak - Whiskey Creek series – Romance

Brenda Novak’s romances are great examples of the genre. One of the things I like about this series is that the first book, When Lightning Strikes, introduces us to a group of high school friends approximately 10 years after graduation, and each book in the series (so far) has focused on one character’s happily ever after. The world Brenda Novak builds has a high degree of continuity and characters from the other books continue to interact as they really would have in any small community.

7. Lee Child – Jack Reacher series, Books 1-5 – Thrillers.

Jack Reacher is a retired Military Police officer with a monster case of wanderlust. His travels seem to leave him in the right places at the right time to become enmeshed in kidnapping, murder and mayhem. Given his military background and specialized MP training, Reacher’s highly competent in many areas, and more than holds his own against FBI and Secret Service experts. I’ve listened to these books on audiotape. Dick Hill is a fabulous narrator.

8. David Farland – Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing – Nonfiction.

A must read for every writer. Dave has long spoken about by drawing power from stories that came before; resonating with their readers' experiences, and by resonating within their own works. Frankly, Dave could sell this book for LOTS more and it would still be worth every penny. He teaches you exactly what resonance is and how to use it to make your stories more powerful with examples of how it is used in literature and other art forms, and how one writer, J. R. R. Tolkien, mastered it in his work.

9. John Scalzi, Editor - METAtropolis – anthology – Post-apocalyptic fantasy

Audible was running one of its book specials, and out of the audiobooks I could get for $4.95 was this anthology. I have to admit I picked this one because it had one of the longer run times (I drive about 3 hours a day), and the high quality writers who contributed to the work.

METAtropolis is a shared-world anthology, where all the stories take place in the same created urban fantasy world, but it’s more than that. A typical anthology has a common theme – ex. Humorous horror stories – and the writers have little direction beyond that. A braided anthology has a through line and character. This is another step up in continuity. The five writers collaborated on the world. They all had the same blue print when they set their characters free and let them interact with this world.

10. Harlan Cobin – Six Years – Thriller/ Suspense

Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty, recommended Six Years on her podcast. I met Mignon several years ago at Superstars Writing Seminar, and have often liked the books she’s recommended. She didn’t let me down. Again, this was an audiobook for me.

Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd. Then Jake comes across Todd’s obituary. At the funeral, Jake gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife…but she’s not Natalie. As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. His search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.

This is another “can’t put down story.” It’s not a romance since the love story plays second fiddle to the mystery Jake’s trying to unravel. Cobin handles both the romance and the mystery with a deft touch. The characters are believable and I was rooting for Jake to solve the mystery, find the girl and live happily ever after. But you’ll have to read it to find out if he did.

Here's another book that will stand the test of time.

To restore Daphne to her nymph form, Apollo must bargain with treacherous Hades, but Death may demand too high a price.

Shot by a golden arrow, Apollo has only truly loved Daphne. He visits her each eclipse, and longs for reunion. He seeks the Fates’s advice and learns he may finally restore Daphne to her true water nymph form by enlisting other gods’ assistance.

If Apollo fails Daphne will be lost to him forever. To regain Daphne’s soul, Apollo must deal with the devil, King of the Underworld. Love-torn and treacherous, Hades would slay the pantheon to remain with his wife for the full year. Apollo’s quest might just give Hades the leverage he needs to do so.

Will Pheobus Apollo surrender the sun to try to reclaim love? Can he break Daphne’s curse or will his attempts destroy her forever? Will she still love him after millennia as a soulless tree? With the end of the quest see Apollo rising, or in sunset?

To read an excerpt from Apollo Rising please click HERE.

To read excerpts from Nancy DiMauro's other Musa Publishing books, please click HERE.

Learn more about Nancy DiMauro and her impressive work on her website Falcons Fables and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.

Tuesday Toolbox - The Care and Creation of a Time Travel Series by @sharonledwith

Today's Tuesday Toolbox is a guest post by Sharon Ledwith. Thank you Sharon!

The Care and Creation of a Time Travel Series
by Sharon Ledwith

My journey to publication started in the mid-90s. One evening while I was reading, I thought how simple the structure and dialogue was in this particular novel. You can write, you can do this, a voice urged inside my head. Let me tell you, I almost fell off my chair. But those words rang true for me. So, I decided to act on this truth, and took a writing course—Writing your Novel—where I met a great couple of like-minded would-be writer gals. Together we started a writing support group, and I wrote my first novel—a paranormal romance. This manuscript caught the eye of an agent, but I was hardly ready, and I see that now. What I needed to do was to hone my craft and get better and better with the process of writing. And that takes making many mistakes at the expense of your ego. In other words: lots of rejection, rejection, rejection! Ouch!

Then one night, during my writer’s group, one of my friends said something that floored me. She mentioned that I hit my twelve-year-old character’s voice bang on. So, this got me to thinking—how hard would it be to write a young adult novel? It was a stupid question. Of course it was hard! After thinking about what my friend had said to me, I decided I’d challenge myself and write not just a novel—but a series—that would appeal to my son, who at the time was the target age of my audience. Since I’ve always loved the time travel genre, it was a no-brainer for me.

The idea for The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis came to me in a dream I had around 1998. In this dream, I saw seven arches, and there were seven people (five kids, two adults) with crystals in their hands, walking up to these arches. It definitely had an Indiana Jones feel to it. I wanted to create a book series for adolescents that had a different slant to the time travel genre. I love history. I also love myths and legends. There’s a few time travel series out there, but nothing that has roots leading back to Atlantis—at least what I know about or have read. Since there’s no concrete evidence that Atlantis did exist, then that left the door wide open to possibilities. I had to do a lot of digging into the legend of Atlantis, reading many books—especially Edgar Cayce’s psychic readings—and surfing the internet, until I had a fixed idea on how to present this in story form, and into a series of books.

The whole idea of the series is based on not changing our past, because it’s been written—a huge challenge for my time traveling characters who must keep time safe from an evil Atlantean force released back into the world. In the first book of the series, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, the Timekeepers time travel to Nottingham, England in 1214 where they must find an adolescent Robin Hood and his band of merry teens before history is turned upside-down.

FYI—originally I had called the series The Timeliners, because their prime directive was to keep time in line. Then, it became The Timekeepers, and finally The Last Timekeepers, as the series became more evolved and developed.

It took 15 years of writing in the trenches—querying publishers and agents, writing more books, getting rejected again and again—before I finally signed a publishing contract with Musa Publishing for The Last Timekeepers series. And after all this time there was still one catch—I had to rewrite the entire manuscript in the point of view of only one of the characters. Originally, I had written the series with each kid having their own chapter throughout the book. My newly assigned editor Kathy Teel found this confusing and suggested I write the first book in only one of the character’s voices, starting with Amanda Sault. That way, the next book would feature another character’s point of view. However daunting a task this sounds, it was sage advice, and made the book stronger and fresher.

Now a year has passed, and under the tutelage of another fine editor by the name of Tricia Schwaab, the prequel of my series Legend of the Timekeepers is set to make its debut this August 30th. So get your time portals ready and put on your Babel necklaces! It’s going to be another thrilling, crazy ride into the past!

If you haven’t already checked out my young adult time travel read, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, here’s the blurb…

When 13-year-old Amanda Sault and her annoying classmates are caught in a food fight at school, they're given a choice: suspension or yard duty. The decision is a no-brainer. Their two-week crash course in landscaping leads to the discovery of a weathered stone arch in the overgrown back yard. The arch isn't a forgotten lawn ornament but an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis.

Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers--legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial--Amanda and her classmates are sent on an adventure of a lifetime. Can they find the young Robin Hood and his merry band of teens? If they don't, then history itself may be turned upside down.

To read an excerpt of The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, please click HERE.

Check out The Last Timekeepers series Facebook Page.

BUY LINKS
Musa Publishing
Amazon Link
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, The Last Timekeepers, available through Musa Publishing. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, yoga, kayaking, time with family and friends, and single malt scotch. Sharon lives in the wilds of Muskoka in Central Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, a water-logged yellow Labrador and moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.

Tuesday Toolbox - Twitter Party #BlissBall August 7th, 9-10pm EST #giveaway

As every writer who intends to write for more than an audience of one soon discovers, you can't just write a great book. You have to promote it too.

Luckily, promotion can be fun. It can even be a PARTY with other awesome authors who write the same time of books as you. Which means readers come to party because they're a fan of one author, discover you, and might just fall in love with the books you write too.

In the midst of this glorious exposure, you and your soon-to-be readers are having fun chatting up the Twitter-sphere, and your readers are winning cool swag that they'll love and remember the awesome author who gave it to them. It's a win-win plan for readers and authors alike.

Iif you'd like to check out a Twitter party with cool giveaway prizes (including those cool antique bronze "live your dream" charms pictured above), join the sweet and sassy authors of Entangled Bliss on Twitter on August 7th from 9-10pm EST. Use the hashtag #BlissBall, and you'll be entered for our random giveaways.

Tuesday Toolbox - Listen to Your Muse @HolleyTrent's Muse Likes #Cowboys

My Muse Like Cowboys
by Holley Trent

Last fall, I was on Colorado’s 287 driving south to a meeting—doing my usual in-car sing-along to…oh, I want to say "Panic! at the Disco." Suddenly, with the mountains of the Front Range in view, my muse plopped her mouthy self into the front passenger seat and said, “Hey, you need write a cowboy romance.”

Naturally, I scoffed. I’m a Carolina girl (lapsed, but still). We didn’t have ranchers back east. We just had farmers. What do I know about cowboys (beyond the fact they tend to wear their jeans quite well)?

Muse said, “You’re thinking too literally. You can tell a cowboy story without it being a treatise on ranch management.”

And I said, “Oh yeah? You want to tell me what, precisely, this story should be about? ’Cause I’m plenty busy already.”

Muse said, “Picture it. A single dad workaholic living in the middle of the Wyoming boonies.”

I said: “Wyoming?”

Muse said: “Yeah? Remember that road trip through southeastern Wyoming and that never-ending dirt road that tested the mettle of your marriage?”

I said, “Oh. That. That was…educational.”

Muse said: “Now imagine a community so sparsely populated because of the size of the ranches that most of the kids are home-schooled.”

Me: “Uh…”

Muse said: “And because few people are really qualified to home-school those kids, a couple of those ranchers have to hire a tutor from a service.”

Me: “Ah. I see where you’re going here.”

Muse: “Fish out of water. Carolina beauty queen intellectual versus stubborn Wyoming rancher.”

Me: “Hmm. I might could work it. Can I have a big cast?”

Muse: “The biggest. Grey’s Anatomy didn’t have a cast this big.”

Me: “So I can write in some insane secondaries. Can I make it snarky?”

Muse: “The snarkiest, babe. I’ve got an idea for a sidekick named Phil. He can be this book’s resident misanthrope. Oh! And a bossy mother. You can have one of those, too.”

Me: “Okay. I’m tempted. Maybe after NaNoWriMo.”

Muse: “No. NOW. You don’t want to ignore me. Remember what happened last time?”

Me: *glowers*

Muse: “Oh. Since it’s going to be a doorstopper of a book, anyway, why not just go on ahead and add in a secret baby?”

Me: “Leave.”

Muse: “Fine. Be back next week. I have an idea for a—”

Me: “LALALALALALA.”

And, that’s how the story of Ronnie and John came to be. It’s called Teaching the Cowboy and will be trotting into e-readers sometime this fall. Watch the TtC page my blog to learn more.

Holley Trent writes contemporary and paranormal romances with Southern sass. Her previous Musa releases are the chick-litty Executive Decision and Her Resident Jester. Holley's comedic paranormals Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas and Love by Premonition.

Learn more about Holley and her upcoming works on her website and blog. Stay in touch with Twitter.

Tuesday Toolbox – Pinterest for Authors

I resisted joining Pinterest when it first broke onto the scene. I’m a word person, not a picture person. But promotion is about connecting with readers in their comfort zone and where they’re receptive to you. I also couldn’t ignore all those “Pin It” icons that were showing up everywhere, making it easy to add a pin to my boards.

At first I just pinned my book covers and covers from other authors I love, along with some outdoor pictures that I found inspiring. But then I realized that I could do more.

I have lots of ideas in my head of what my characters, their settings, and important objects look like, but descriptive writing is not my strength. Pinterest gives me a place where I can show readers a really good visual by repinning other people’s pins, and hopefully the people I repin from might be inclined to check me out. Maybe they’ll even be intrigued by what they see or remember my name.

I’m currently developing a couple multi-book series, and I’ve discovered Pinterest is a wonderful tool for connecting these books, both in my creative mind and for readers. For each series, I created a Pinterest board for all the books and characters in the series to mingle together.

For example, on my “Small Town, Big Dreams” Series board, I have the two pictures you see here. I also have pictures of Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon to represent Matt and Veronica from Construction Beauty Queen. I also found an awesome Halloween costume of a construction couple. In addition, I’ve posted some pictures that tie in to my upcoming release Love Him or Leave Him. Surprisingly, the pins of an abandoned bowling alley that I posted are quickly becoming my most repinned items. I’m catching the attention of people I never would have connected with otherwise.

Take a peek at my Pinterest boards. I’d love to hear which pins are your favorites, what you’d like to see added and how you think I could make my boards even better.

Tuesday Toolbox – Keep Track of Characters in a Series

I usually pick out my character names by making sure I don’t duplicate first letters or cadence, like I detailed in the January 29th Tuesday Toolbox. But as I embarked on writing Love Him or Leave Him, the second book in the Small Town, Big Dreams series, I realized that wasn’t enough. I was racking up so many characters, both on the page and in passing mention, that I needed a way to organize the names (and characters without names) and record which book(s) they appear in.

For me, the perfect answer was a spreadsheet. I made columns for first name, last name, and notes describing who they are and their relationship to other characters. I also made a column for each book and potential book in the series, putting an ‘X’ in the column if the character appears on the pages of the book and an ‘m’ in the column if the character is simply mentioned or referenced.

Then I took the spreadsheet and sorted it by first name so when I needed to add a character, I could quickly see where in the alphabet I’m overloaded and which letters would add more diversity and fit well within the already existing cast.

Some people use a notebook, word processing document, or a database to keep track of character information. I like the at-a-glance handiness of my one-page spreadsheet.

Tuesday Toolbox – Organize Those Financial and Tax Details You’d Rather Ignore

Last week we talked about organizing contracts, submissions and your author calendar. Now we need to talk about possibly the most critical part of a working author’s organization: Income, Expenses and Taxes.

Income, specifically advances and royalties, is fun to talk about. Who doesn’t like to get checks in the mail or delivered straight to their bank or Paypal account? But scrambling to find all the deposits and add them together come tax time can be frustrating and time consuming, especially if you write for multiple publishers or self-publish on multiple platforms, so keep a record throughout the year and keep all your statements together so nothing gets overlooked or forgotten. On the plus side, you’ll have a great idea of which of your books are selling and which retailers you sell the most at.

Expenses are even harder to figure out at the end of the year if you haven’t been keeping track of them all along. How much did you spend to have your book cover on that blog? How much to did you pay in postage to mail that swag to readers? How much did the swag cost? What about that conference you went to in April? Keeping track of them as you go along or, at the very least, in a quarterly round up will help keep things from slipping through the cracks and make your life a lot easier come the end of the year.

Which leads us to the reason keeping track of your income and expenses is so critical…

Taxes! Sure you want the satisfaction and validation of making a profit on your writing, but you also have to make an accurate reporting to the IRS or risk penalties and interest and general misery. And I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to give the government more of my money than I have to. Hence, don’t leave out any legitimate expenses from your records!

Happy organiz
ing!

Tuesday Toolbox – Organize Those Details You’d Rather Ignore

This stuff isn’t sexy, but it is important if you plan to treat writing as more than a casual hobby.

Contracts: If you’re published, can you immediately locate all your publishing contracts in case you need to review a clause, a publisher ceases operation, or you want to get your rights reverted? If something were to happen to you, could your loved ones find your contracts and know who to contact at your publisher? I have printed out all my contracts and put them in a binder with each book title and publisher labeled, and I’ve showed it to my husband so he knows what and where it is. I update my binder every time I sign a new publishing contract.

Editor/Agent Submissions: Whether you’re published or not, do you know who has your manuscript, and how long they’ve had it for? I have a spreadsheet that I’ve kept since 2002 with all my editor and agent submissions—who I sent to, at what house, which manuscript I submitted, what I sent (i.e query only, three chapters and synopsis by email, full manuscript by snail mail, etc.), when I sent it, when a reply was received, and what that reply entailed. This was absolutely critical a few years ago when I had twenty queries out at once, both so I didn’t repeatedly send the same query to the same agent but also so if my rejections all noted that “the heroine wasn’t sympathetic” I could consider revising before I sent out more queries. Now I have much less to keep track of it, but I still find it usefully when I’m sending a new manuscript to a publisher, so I remember to follow up on it if it’s been out for a while.

 Calendar: I keep two separate writing calendars in addition to my family calendar. My first calendar is a month-at-a-glance booklet where I write down my book releases, guest blog posts, special events on my blog, online chats, author appearances and anything else noteworthy. While the first calendar deals with public events, my second calendar is for my writing life behind the scenes. I’ve used both a month-at-a-glance and a week-at-a-glance over the past couple years. On this calendar, I note what I plan to accomplish, whether it’s edits on a manuscript or a daily word count on a new manuscript. I also note when I have personal appointments or commitments that will eat into my writing time so I can set realistic expectations for the day/week/month. And I update and revise often, so nothing slips through the cracks.

I’ve left off the biggest and most hated organizational items: Financial and Taxes. We’ll tackle them in next week’s toolbox.

Tuesday Toolbox – Getting Started Writing

Often when I’m talking in social situations with people who aren’t authors, they will admit that they have a story they’d like to tell. They have this idea, but faced with a pen and paper (or a blank computer screen) they have no idea what to do.

I think their mistake is assuming the words will flow out perfectly, reading like a published novel from the get-go. That inevitably doesn’t happen, at which point it’s easy to get discouraged or freeze up.

Have you ever watched a house being built? The builders dig a hole and pour a foundation first. When approaching a new house, you might first see the walls and front door, but those pieces weren’t built first. The same is true with writing. The first thing the reader sees probably isn’t going to be the author’s first thought. So, adjust your expectations, and focus on building the foundation for your story first.

Let’s be honest. Starting is hard. Really hard. Stop trying to write a perfect first sentence. In fact, don’t try to write a sentence at all. Write a word, a phrase, a mood, a random thought. Make notes about who your characters are and what they want. Make more notes about what happened before the story started and what might happen at some point in the story. This could be a vague half-coherent explanation of the overarching plot or specific details about the giant cracks in the dry, hard ground that sets the stage for a single scene.

It doesn’t matter what you write on the page or if it makes sense to anyone. You’re starting to build your story house. You’re gathering your tools, the concrete, the boards, the nails, the drywall. Slowly, the foundation will begin to form out of random sentences, half-formed ideas, descriptions and suggestions.

Congratulations! You’re now a writer. Keep going. You’ve already done the hardest part. You started.

Tuesday Toolbox – Writing in Silence, to Music…or amid Mayhem

Let me preface this by saying 1) I’ve done all three and 2) there’s no right or wrong way. As long as you’re getting words on the page, you have a reason to celebrate. But if you find yourself frustrated, maybe changing things up with one of these methods will engage your muse and help the words come.

I started writing in the middle of chaos. I had young children. I was losing my mind. I needed to do something for me alone. Writing while they ran screaming through the room—bring it on. Scribbling a sex scene on the front steps while making sure no one ran from the yard into the street—oh yes. Squeezing in a few words while playing referee between squabbling siblings and fixing enough frozen pizzas to feed every kid in the neighborhood—yep.

Not an ideal situation, clearly. However, writing in the middle of a bunch of distractions can help to silence all the voices in your head that want to paralyze you with anxiety or tell you what you wrote isn’t good enough and needs to be revised. While you’re half focused on what’s going on around you, the story can flow out on a subconscious level.

Writing to music: Some authors create their own story-specific playlist. Some authors can only write to music without words. Some only can have music while writing but not while editing or vice versa. I made up playlists for Construction Beauty Queen and A Man Worth Fighting For. For a couple years, I started every writing session listening to Alan Jackson’s To Do What I Do. It’s still my author theme song. My husband works to music whenever he’s not in a meeting or on a call. If it’s too quiet, he can’t concentrate.

Over the past six months, I have discovered silence. I sit alone near a window where I can stare outside, and I write. My thoughts are completely in the story. When my husband’s speaker phone conference calls became too much of a distraction, I dug out the noise cancelling headphones we bought at a NASCAR race. Now when someone turns on the TV in the next room, I put the headphones on. They don’t give me complete silence, but they allow the other voices to be muffled enough that I am cocooned in my characters’ world and no longer feel forced to end my writing day when chaos threatens to take over.

Which writing atmosphere to do you prefer? Silence, music, mayhem or something completely different?

Tuesday Toolbox - What Makes Cozy Mysteries So Popular?

Guest Post by Sam Cheever

What is it about cozy mysteries that makes them so much fun? To answer that question, I guess you need to start with the basic elements of a cozy. When one thinks of a cozy, one might think Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple or maybe Angela Lansbury’s character, Jessica Fletcher, of Murder She Writes fame. The traditional cozy is set in a specific, confined area, such as a bunch of people stranded in a remote location with a killer in their midst, a.k.a Clue (Best. Movie. Ever). Many contemporary cozies are in small town settings, with quirky characters and the challenges and opportunities inherent in small town living. A cozy generally revolves around a murder, but the murder is usually off screen and/or not overly violent.

Cozy mysteries feature amateur sleuths of all kinds. For example, some of the most popular contemporary cozy series feature flower shop owners, chefs, caterers, accountants, book store owners, writers, and dog trainers. These unlikely sleuths find themselves repeatedly embroiled in murder most foul and struggling to figure out whodunit. The mystery is made more interesting by the quirkiness of the people involved, their tendency to lie and cover, and the misconceptions that come from knowing someone for years. It’s a fun formula fraught with opportunities for both the reader and the sleuth to go awry and lose their way.

Which brings me to the reason I love a good cozy mystery. I love the challenge and journey of figuring out whodunit in a light, fun environment. No guts, no gore, no over-the-top sensuality. Just a big, fun puzzle.

My own cozy mystery series is centered on an antiques store owner and has an additional fun twist. Filled with lots of great, old things, Yesterday’s Antiques is a hotbed of paranormal activity, giving Yesterday Mysteries a paranormal edge. This aspect adds an extra element of fun to the already enjoyable mystery. Anna Yesterday is a kind, attractive young woman trying to make a living doing what she loves in a small town in Southern Indiana. When Anna opened Yesterday’s Antiques, she inherited two spirits, who are tied to objects that were once buried under the store.

Joss is a cowboy from pre-Civil war times, whose gun belt and holster were uncovered behind the store when Anna was having some improvements made. Joss is sexy, protective, and obviously in love with Anna, and she feels pretty much the same about him. The second specter, Bess was a saloon girl who sometimes cleaned the floors in the inn that was located where Yesterday’s now exists. She lived in the mid to late 1800s and Anna isn’t sure what her transference object is. Bess and Anna butt heads on a regular basis, mostly due to the fact that Bess is jealous of Anna’s relationship with Joss, but also because…well…Bess is kind of a crank. #:0)

To make things even more interesting, Anna has a sexy, flesh and blood assistant who’s an ex-cop to help her with her sleuthing. Her growing feelings for Pratt are confusing and cause no end of tension between the two men in her life. All in all, it’s a fun series with likeable characters and I’m really enjoying being on the creation side of the cozy mystery genre for a change! I hope you’ll check these books out.

~~*~~

Antiques can be a dangerous business. Especially when you’re dealing with a desperate politician, a sexy ex-cop, and a couple of “spirited” companions.

Anna Yesterday owns Yesterday’s Antiques in small town USA. When she finds an old newspaper clipping lining the drawer of an antique dresser, she realizes she’s never heard the ugly story of rape and suicide detailed on the yellowed newsprint. So she starts to dig, and her sleuthing exposes an ugly cover-up that casts the residents of Crocker, Indiana into danger and intrigue, and leaves them with a corpse.

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~~*~~

A deadly secret is tangled up in Yesterday’s Threads, and Anna is racing the clock to get it unraveled.

In 1859, Elisabeth Margaret Nelson traveled to Crocker, Indiana to meet her new husband and start a new life. Her family never saw her again. The story of her death and a heartbroken husband who grieves his entire life is a sad tale for sure. But is it true?

When Anna Yesterday receives some vintage dresses from the local museum, she’s excited about highlighting them at Crocker’s annual Apple Blossom Festival. But someone wants the dresses back, and they’ll apparently stop at nothing to get them—leaving a trail of murder and destruction in their wake.

As Anna and Pratt work to uncover the deadly intrigue behind the vintage dresses, interference of another kind is working its way to the surface. All too soon, Anna and Pratt find themselves neck deep in trouble from more than one dimension—and wondering which will get them first!

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Tuesday Toolbox – Going Free with Haley's Man

I’ve talked about the powerful promotional tool of giving away free books via blog hops and on Goodreads. I’ve also talked about the promotional tool of giving away free short storiesto allow readers to sample your work. 

For self-published authors, offering a book for free through one of the multiple e-reader platforms has the potential to get your book in the hands of more readers and create awareness of your author name than any of these other giveaways. Offering a book for free can be done in different ways. If the book is on Smashwords, you can generate a coupon code that customers can enter. Some authors, such as Marie Force, have had great success in making their book free on other platforms and getting Amazon to price match, effectively making it free on a near-permanent basis.

I’ve decided to offer my self-published book free by enrolling in Amazon’s KPD Select program. In exchange for giving Amazon exclusive distribution of my book for 90 days, I can do a five day free promotion. The thinking is that the more books I give away, more readers will discover me, love my writing and pay real money for my other books. The other hope is that the free book will sell at a higher rate after the promotion than it did before because it’s now been noticed and has a boost in ranking.

Some people have had phenomenal luck with this type of promotion. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them when I tried it with my children’s chapter books. So why am I trying it again? This time my book is situated in a genre (erotic romance) where readers are more accustomed to discovering new authors digitally. I have a big backlist of titles to capitalize on. I contacted nearly two dozen web and social media sites that alert their followers to free e-reads to enlist help in spreading the word. And finally, I have nothing to lose. If the promotion doesn’t work, I’m no worse off than I was before.

Haley’s Man will be free on Amazon for five days from May 16 through May 20, 2013. I’m asking for everyone who is willing (and comfortable with it) to download a copy and help me spread the word. Please be aware: This is a steamy erotic romance with very explicit love scenes.

I’ll report back in a future toolbox on the success of the promotion.

 Haley’s Man

Contemporary Erotic Romance Novella
Free May 16, 2013 - May 20, 2013 only from Amazon

When Haley Miller posts on a sexual fantasies forum that she wants to have an orgasm while surrounded by her friends, one reply stands out. Intrigued and desperately aroused, Haley prepares for the orgasm of her dreams. But when she arrives at her friend’s house, she learns that the man of her dreams, Seth Gardner, is back in town. Now she must decide if she wants to go through with her plans for public pleasure or go after her dream date with Seth, or risk losing them both.

Tuesday Toolbox - Bad Words Your Mother Never Told You Not to Say

Did your mother ever threaten to wash your mouth out with soap for saying naughty words? I remember watching my brother get his mouth washed out with soap. The terrible, naughty word he dared to speak was…“shut up.”

You can make a safe assumption that I never heard the words most people consider bad enough to be offensive—well, until I started riding the school bus, but that’s another story! I certainly wouldn’t have said them. Imagine my surprise when I started getting edits that were color-coded with all the bad words I needed to take out, words that I used every day in front of my mother!

Actually. Just. That. Completely. Even.

Actually, when I’m just writing the draft, these are words that seem completely justified, even necessary. For the most part, however, my writing becomes stronger when I remove them.

Speaking of stronger, I needed to obliterate passive voice from my writing.

Seem/seemed. Feel/felt. Made/make. Thought. Believed. These are filtering words that I blogged about here. They need to go. http://saradanielromance.blogspot.com/2013/03/tuesday-toolbox-lose-filter.html

Was. This passive verb, along with his buddies had and could, takes over my drafts and leaves me with the unpleasant soap residue in my mouth. Here’s an example from my latest manuscript:

Draft: He was treating her with the same polite distance…

Revised: He spoke to her with the same polite distance…

The revised version not only shows the hero performing an action. It also gives the reader a more concrete impression of his previously vague treatment.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers. Eradicating overused words and passive sentence construction is something I struggle with during each book. But I now recognize my weakness words, and I use Microsoft Word to search for and highlight each one. I look forward to the day when I address them all before they reach my editor’s desk and I save myself from a thorough mouth-washing.

Tuesday Toolbox - Think You Want to Write Paranormal?

WRITING THE PARANORMAL
Guest Post by Clarissa Johal

People often ask me how I began writing in the genre of paranormal. I’m not brooding or scary or running off to join the latest séance, which I think is what they expect. And my silly sense of humor oftentimes gets me into trouble, especially with my two daughters.

The topic of paranormal has always interested me because I moved around so much as a kid. It seemed we were always living in an older place and with those older places, came a ghost or two. Now, before you chuckle and roll your eyes (or not) let me tell you, I walk the line between skeptic and 100% believer. On the surface, I may be rolling my eyes with you, but inside, I believe in a plethora of things I won’t even begin to discuss until I’ve known someone a very long time. I know what I’ve experienced, and I know what my rational mind tells me. Believe me, there’s a lot of arguing in my head over those two things. We are a collection of what we’ve experienced in our lifetime, and since I’m as old as the hills, I’ve experienced plenty.

When I was 10-years-old, we moved to an island and lived for several months in a 30-year-old house. I’m an insomniac and have been since I was a kid. Consequently, being awake while the rest of my family slept was nothing new, though my mom would get quite irritated because I would roam the house at night and wake her up. One evening, and after hours of tossing and turning, I decided to stroll. While I sat on the couch trying to figure out what to do with myself, I heard singing in my ear. It was as if a woman was sitting right next to me singing, “Time in a Bottle.” I liked the song, it was popular at the time (and yes, that dates me) but I didn’t know the words. At that point, I did what any kid would do if they weren’t compelled to run away screaming, I politely sat and listened until she finished. Afterwards, I went back to bed and proceeded to have the worst nightmare. I dreamt that I walked into our bathroom and found a naked, young woman wrapped up in a shower curtain in our bathtub. She was blonde, had a bullet hole in her head, and was quite dead. It was a graphic nightmare for a 10-year-old; I never watched television and rarely had nightmares. I had it for weeks until we finally moved. Each time, it became more intense—it had gotten to the point where she was clawing her way out of the tub and trying to speak to me through the shower curtain. Needless to say, I was a bit of a wreck by the time we moved. Years later, I remember finding out from my parents that there was indeed, a murder at that house. They didn’t elaborate, but I always wondered of the details. Parents, tell your kids these things ahead of time, because if they ever experience anything, they will always wonder.

I was 13-years-old when my parents took a house by the ocean. They were able to rent it cheap and I was more than a little sad when we moved a year later. It had a garden, a tree-house, a large yard to do cartwheels in; everything a kid could want. It also had ghosts. I would lay awake for hours and watch a white cat walk through my bedroom wall. Over and over again. No explanation for that, it just was. I remember constantly seeing an old lady out of the corner of my eye. She would follow me down the stairs to the basement and back up again. She would follow me down the hallway to my bedroom. Sometimes, I would see her sitting in my mom’s rocking chair in the living room. I wasn’t afraid; she was just a presence I came to accept. It wasn’t until we moved from that place that I overheard my parents discussing the house and the fact they had both seen the shadow of an old lady there. They thought it might have been the lady that died in the house before we bought it. Well, that was news to me (and unfortunately, taught me the joys of eavesdropping).

So, back to the genre of paranormal. I began writing fiction when my kiddos were younger. While writing the second installment to my Pradee series, I was interrupted by two characters that truly didn’t fit. I kept setting them aside, but they would return, stronger than ever. Finally, I gave up on my young adult title and began Between, a story of the paranormal. While my young adult fantasy, took me ten years to complete, I had the rough draft of Between finished in several months and a year after that, the full novel was complete. Six weeks after I submitted, Musa Publishing offered me a contract.

The novel I’m working on now is also in the genre of paranormal. I have to say, I’m hooked. I like the freedom of writing for adults and I love presenting the paranormal in a new and interesting ways. Now, I know what you’re probably going to ask me. Do I write of my experiences or make stuff up? I’m a writer, I write fiction, and I know the difference between fiction and real life. I have to, I have kids. However, the best fiction is when writers “write what they know” and a little of what I know creeps into my novels from time to time. I hope you will enjoy reading them.

How far would you go to redeem yourself?
Since Lucinda was a young girl, she's been able to see spirits, a gift that didn't come without its problems. Now, a dedicated, young veterinarian, she is committed to the idea that everything can be saved.

When Lucinda is involved in a car accident that kills her fiancé, she is devastated and moves to a small town to live a life of self-imposed exile. There, she meets a newcomer and feels an immediate connection with him. However, there is another mysterious stranger to the small town, one that stirs within her a mixture of unease and desire.

The spiritual activity around her intensifies as Lucinda is increasingly haunted by memories of the accident. As she is drawn into a bitter tug-a-war from the forces around her, she is likewise pulled into a dangerous twist of past and present events. Forced to make difficult choices, she surprisingly finds that the two men are locked in not only a battle for her life...but a battle for their salvation.

Learn more about Clarissa Johal on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.

Tuesday Toolbox - To Self-Publish…Or Not

Once upon a time (aka three years ago) self-publishing was something an author might consider after she’d received rejections from every editor and agent on the planet, if they deigned to acknowledge her at all.

Now self-publishing is the land of opportunity where the Kindles are paved with gold. Authors who’d never turned a profit through traditional publishing herald us with dazzling stories of overflowing bank accounts. Many more authors self-publish to modest or disappointing results.

Self-publishing is no longer a last resort for misfit manuscripts and stories that never should have seen the light of day. It is a legitimate publishing option that stands shoulder to shoulder with traditional New York publishers and smaller independent (often digital) presses.

Self-publishing is not an either/or proposition. I see it as another tool available to the author, one that can be very powerful in the right hands—and completely ineffective for those with no clue how to capitalize on it.

I first published with a small press for a hardcover romance. Several years later I digitally self-published two children’s chapter books. Both those ventures proved disappointing (although I still have hope for my children’s books). Now I am digitally published with three digital publishers in romance. My success is modest as yet but continually growing. I am excited to continue working with my publishers. I love my editors, my book covers, their automatic distribution to multiple e-platforms, and our joint promotional efforts.

I’ve also decided to test the self-publishing waters again, this time with an erotic romance novella. Why? First of all, the book is short, which makes the price point low enough that splitting the profits doesn’t leave a significant amount for anyone. Second and much more compelling to me is flexibility in promotion efforts. I now have a book where I can give away as many promotional copies as I please. I can experiment with the price and the genre classifications. I can even take it off the market and revise it after it’s published.

A rising tide floats all boats. Self-publishing helps publisher sales and vice versa. I’m excited to put my boat in the water and discover where I float to.

 Haley’s Man

Contemporary Erotic Romance Novella
Currently 99 cent download only from Amazon

When Haley Miller posts on a sexual fantasies forum that she wants to have an orgasm while surrounded by her friends, one reply stands out. Intrigued and desperately aroused, Haley prepares for the orgasm of her dreams. But when she arrives at her friend’s house, she learns that the man of her dreams, Seth Gardner, is back in town. Now she must decide if she wants to go through with her plans for public pleasure or go after her dream date with Seth, or risk losing them both.

Tuesday Toolbox - Writing About Sex by Leigh Daley

Why I Write Sex
by Arley Cole and Leigh Daley

I write under two pennames—Arley Cole for my YA-friendly fantasy and Leigh Daley for my steamy romance. Arley Cole keeps it out of the bedroom, but Leigh Daley gets into some seriously R-rated territory.

This makes life difficult for me in my tiny Alabama hamlet. When people ask about my latest release, I have to make a quick judgment—do I tell them about the Leigh Daley stuff or will it scandalize them? What would the little women in my church say about me if they read my Leigh Daley stuff? Would they ask me to put a scarlet letter on my choir robe?

But the truth is sex has a hugely important place in women’s lives. We think of men as being the sex-driven beings, but human relationships are cemented together by the physical act of belonging to one another. If we want stronger relationships, we need to be having frequent, mutually beneficial, loving sex.

That is not to say that I am at all in favor of the “jump in bed first, ask questions later” school of relationships. From personal experience, that attitude leads to sleeping with frogs rather than princes. My characters sometimes do sleep with each other before they should – that’s one of the relationship minefields we have to navigate. When they do, I am compelled as a story-teller to deal with their actions in the most realistic way possible. Sex too soon causes trouble they have to work out together.

But sex in the fullness of time in a relationship binds two people together in ways very little else can. I truly enjoy writing about a couple’s exploration of each other. In loving someone else, we really do discover things about ourselves. The sex act opens up all kinds of emotional territory for us, and I love to show my characters discovering themselves through their physical loving of each other.

Our sexual experience affects us profoundly, no matter our age, background, or gender. As an erotic writer, I try to treat the subject with the respect and integrity it deserves. If my readers sometimes find themselves inspired to jump their partners after reading, I am glad of that. Anyone fortunate enough to be in a loving, committed relationship owes it to that relationship to invest in it physically as often and as jubilantly as possible. In fact one of my personal goals as a romance author is to inspire my readers to have more sex!

In my latest Leigh Daley release, Storm Duty - Finally Ever After, a natural disaster shakes up divorced couple Kyle and Jenna. In the midst of the chaos, they both have to learn that all that really matters is who we love, and their love scene is one of my favorites because of the healing that takes place between them.

At this season, especially after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, I think we all need to remember to hold close the ones we love. So I’m going to keep writing romance, and I hope you all will keep reading. Now, go hold somebody!

Leigh Daley

Their careers drove them apart--could disaster bring them back together?

BLURB:
In the aftermath of a series of tornadoes, Kyle Mathis just wants to guide his linemen to restore power to the devastated town of Milton. When reinforcements in the form of corporate deskjockeys come to work storm duty, he's glad for the extra bodies to help serve food and support the crews working eighteen hour days.

But Kyle is not prepared to face one of the latest arrivals, his ex-wife Jenna. Jenna left him years ago, choosing her career over their marriage. However, being back together in their home town brings back memories and desire--for both Kyle and Jenna.

Can Kyle and Jenna find each other again in the midst of the devastation? Or will their jobs pull them apart and leave not only their homes but their hearts shattered?

EXCERPT:
The instant Jenna Harlow heard her ex-husband’s voice, she wished she hadn’t agreed to come.

She certainly wanted to help and Cedar Hill had been home once. But as she stood and saw Kyle face to face, she wished she hadn’t. There were just too many memories.

“Yeah, I’ve got some made already,” she answered him, aware that his eyes had widened at the sight of her. She covered her own desire to stare by pouring him a cup. “Do you still take cream and sugar?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light even though her heart pounded so hard she could feel it in her fingertips.

“I’m drinking it black these days,” he answered, his tone just as even.

As she passed him the cup, her hand trembled. He took the coffee, but the hot liquid splashed out a little over the side. His hands were shaking too.

He cursed under his breath as he sat the cup down on the table and grabbed a napkin to mop up the spill.

“Don’t worry,” she insisted. “I’ll clean it up.” She looked at his face in the dim light. His eyes that same dark green, his hair the same light brown—still cut the same as she remembered from seven years ago.

But his shoulders were broader, and he stood taller, more muscular. His jaw had a strong, determined set, and little sun crinkles had begun to frame his eyes. She’d always thought he was good-looking, but now in the fullness of manhood, he was downright gorgeous...

To read more of Storm Duty, please click HERE.

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Leigh Daley lives with her husband and kids in the wilds of West Alabama along with her dogs Bruno and Jack. Now on her fourth career, she has spent most of her life writing for other people, but these days she is writing for herself. She eats like a cavewoman, posts crazy fanfic as Arcole, and tries to meet her creative needs by writing romance as Leigh Daley and fantasy as Arley Cole. She’s a really big fan of happily ever after.

Learn more about Leigh Daley on her blog. Stay connected on Facebook.