When I started writing, oh, about 100 years ago, I never wanted to be a household name. Nora Roberts, Beatrice Small, Kathleen Woodiwiss, these were the authors who had notoriety and success attached to them. All I really wanted was to be personally successful. To me, that meant being able to support myself financially with my writing. If people enjoyed what I wrote and I got paid for it, well that was good enough for me.
As I said, that’s what I thought when I started writing. Now, decades later, 6 years away from 60, I find I want the same thing, but times have changed. With the advent of my first romance novel’s publication this month, I am over the moon and blown away with delight. But just having the book published seems to have been the easy part. Now that it is out in the universe for all and sundry to delight in, I find that I need to learn an entirely new profession that I didn’t go to college for, and have no knowledge of: marketing.
I’m not a salesperson. I’m not that girl who can sell ice to Eskimos and sand to Bedouins. I don’t like the high pressure sale’s pitch and I loathe when I enter a store and the clerks follow me around, solicitously asking if I need assistance. This is probably why I do so much of my shopping on-line. So, when faced with the prospect and arduous task of now hawking my book to the masses, I panicked.
Really. Full-fledged anxiety blow-out. I had no knowledge of where to even begin to get my name and book promoted. I couldn’t afford to hire a publicist – didn’t even know where to find one. I looked in my local phone directly. Nope, not listed there. The few on-line promotion sites I Googled sounded shady at best.
What to do? The book was coming out soon. Really soon. And I had no plan.
Then I took a breath and realized I had excellent resources to cull from. Since I am a member of RWA and I love my local chapter, I turned to my published chaptermates and was given a plethora of advice – and all of it was golden. They told me the reputable sites to use for on-line promotion and romance friendly blog tours. They gave me invaluable tips for in person promotion such as book club signings, library discussions, and even garden club lectures. My chaptermates had been through the fire of self promotion and had come out unscathed, educated, and successful with sales, so I took all of their knowledge and ran with it.
So far my endeavors have paid off. My book launched last week and the word has gone out to the Twitter-verse, Facebook-land, Pinterst- pinners and many more.
I still feel a deep sense of personal success at having achieved my life long goal of being a published romance author. But now, with the way publishing and the reading world has changed, I feel I have become a much more successful promoter as well.
How do you define personal success? What are some of the ways you’ve been able to get the word out on your books? I’m always game for learning new things. More so now, since I need to market myself.
Drop me a line and let me now how you’ve managed to develop a plan for marketing success.
And much thanks to Delilah for hosting me today. It’s been an exciting ride so far.
Skater’s Waltz
Figure skater Tiffany Lennox is busy with rehearsals for an upcoming ice show when the only man she’s ever loved comes home after a two-year overseas stint. She needs him to see her for the woman she’s become and not the child he knew to ensure he stays home, this time, for good. With her.
For all his wanderlust and hunger for professional success, Cole Greer comes home wanting nothing more than to rest, relax and recover. He is delighted in being Tiffany’s hero and has a special place in his heart reserved for her. But faced with the oh-so-desirable woman she’s become, he starts questioning his determination to keep their relationship platonic.
When forced by the television network to go back on assignment, Cole – for the first time in his life – is torn between his career and his heart.
Skater’s Waltz Excerpt:
One delicate auburn eyebrow rose almost to her hairline. “Cocky self assurance has always been one of your greatest assets,” she commented dryly. Read the rest of this entry »
Hey all, I’m Sasha white, and I write White Hot Fiction in a variety of genres. Mostly, contemporary, and all with an edge of kink. That said, I’m not going to talk so much about MY books today, but instead, about what puts a book on your keeper shelf!
For me it’s all about the characters. I think that’s why I read so many different genres. The books filling my shelves are from contemporary, paranormal, science fiction, suspense, thriller, romance, erotica, and even some non-fiction biographies and travel stories. To me, it doesn’t matter what word or universe the story takes place in, as long as I can connect with the characters. And I seem to be drawn to anti-hero’s. Like Gin Blanco in Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. Or Kate Daniels in Ilona Andrews Magic books. I love to read a series with secondary characters connecting them, and groups, like Delilah’s Dark Realm books, and Pamela Clare’s iTeam series. I’m not a super huge fan of Nora Roberts, (she tends to be hit or miss for me) but I’m a rabid J.D. Robb fan. (Yes, I know they’re the same woman.) Eve, Roarke, Peabody, Mavis, Feeney, Sommerset, and McNabb, they’re all like friends to me.
Each of those series that I mentioned have characters who are real to me. Yes, I know vampires and werewolves and shape shifters don’t exist, but these characters are real because of the job did the author has done by bringing me into their minds and into their world. Once I’m drawn in I’m hooked. It’s not the cars they drive, the swords they swing, or the cities they live in that hook me. It’s them, the characters. Because this is the way I feel as a reader, as an author I strive to make sure my characters come alive on the pages, and, hopefully, in readers minds as well. Only you can tell me if I succeed or not, but I can tell you that when I’m writing they’re very alive to me. Each with their own voice and personality.
However, when I’m writing, sometimes I have a hard time finding something that isn’t already on my keeper shelf to read. And it seems that when I’m in the middle of writing an intense story, I crave new-to me- stories. I have no idea why, I just do. But because I’m writing intensely, I seem to have less patience with the hit and miss of new-to-me-authors, even when I crave them. So, I’m asking you for YOUR recommended reads. What characters stick in your mind, and have earned a spot on your keep er shelf? Tell me in the comments, and be entered to win a $15 Amazon GC.
BDSM club owner Adam Kessler is no one’s hero. He joined the army to get away from the gang-life that had taken his brother, only to come home to heartache. He doesn’t hide his dominant side, and he doesn’t hesitate in his need to protect or enforce his particular brand of retribution on those who’ve earned it. There’s no way in hell he could walk past a man hassling a woman in an empty parking lot and do nothing. Only when the confrontation is over and the voluptuous blonde turns eyes filled with desire to him, does Adam realize he’s in trouble.
Psychologist Olivia Hamilton grew up with the proverbial silver spoon, and has never regretted spending more time on her career than on romance, until she meets Adam Kessler. He’s dark, he’s dangerous, he’s deliciously dirty…and she wants him.
Passion burns quick and hot between them and soon they’re caught up in an intensely carnal relationship that neither can deny. But when Olivia’s life is threatened and Adam shows her just how dangerous he can be, will it be too much for the civilized psychologist to handle, or will she truly accept the man and win her hero’s heart?
So, this is day three of the time change and I don’t like it! It’s interfering with my rhythm!
Starting last November—right when I was supposed to be pounding the keyboard for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), I hit the skids so far as writing was concerned. I couldn’t commit a word to the page to save my life. That slump lasted all the way until January. Scared the crap out of me.
Then January hit, and that is always my new hopes/new plans push. I love New Years resolutions. I feel shiny and new and like anything is possible. I looked at my routine and decided to tweak some things to see whether I could pull out of my slump. Here’s what I did.
I still keep an automated year-at-a-glance planning sheet so I know “big-picture” view what has to be done—and I have my monthly calendar with big goals listed. However, I’ve gone to a hand-written daily sheet. Something I can go through the physical motion of checking off items I accomplish each day. Each time I do, I feel like I’m shedding some of the weight sitting on my shoulder.
The second thing I did was to set my alarm to get up earlier every day. I was getting up around 8-ish, eating breakfast, then around 10:00 coming to my desk. Now, I’m up at 6:30—and oh, what a difference that has made. I somehow forgot I’m a morning person. Now, writing tasks are usually done by 2:00 in the afternoon and then I catch up on email and any social media type things I need to handle. Work is usually wrapped by 3:30. The earlier start time has given me more energy. Go figure.
Then comes Spring Forward! Can we start a petition to stop this nonsense? Seriously? What purpose does it serve except to interrupt our natural rhythms? The earliest I could manage to drag my ass out of bed today was 7:00—and it still feels like the middle of the freaking night! It’s hard to be virtuous and stick to a plan when I’m yawning this hard in front of the keyboard. Seriously!
So tell me, are you struggling with the time change too? Did you start any New Years’ tweaks that you’ve managed to maintain all the way to March?
Get out the tiara! Cinderella is in the house! How many of us grew up to the fairytales of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, wishing our handsome prince would ride in and save the day? Yes, it would be nice to be loved by a handsome man, but most of us are women who are strong and able to take care of ourselves. It’s not just the handsome prince and the promise of a kingdom that intrigues us. It’s the dress and the tiara we all want and love! Right? Okay, maybe not, but you have to admit you could look at beautiful ball gowns and shiny tiaras all day long.
I’m a Big Bang Theory mega-fan and one of my favorite episodes was the one where Sheldon got Amy a “make-up” gift for being insensitive. The whole time she was telling him a gift wouldn’t begin to make up for his rude behavior she was reaching into the bag to see what it was. When she pulled out a glitzy tiara, she lost the cool, logical scientist and melted into a girlie, twittery female tickled to death by a tiara. Yeah, I think deep down we’d all like to wear a tiara and a gorgeous dress.
I’m thrilled they’ve made a movie that’s not animated and can’t wait to see it. Here’s a link to the trailers:
Do you like tiaras and ball gowns? Have you dreamed of going to a fancy ball and dancing like one of the pros from Dance With The Stars until the clock strikes twelve? Share with me a childhood dream, a description of your perfect dress.
Available for preorder Amazon: https://amzn.to/17x2rlO
Ibooks: https://bit.ly/1C3YkXF
Kobo: https://bit.ly/1FfutNz
Billionaire Online Dating Service. Let us find your perfect match!
Desperate to find a date to his own charity ball to avoid taking a spoiled debutante, billionaire Gage Tate agrees to give his friend’s online dating system a try. Tired of gold-diggers and society princesses, he wants a woman who isn’t after his money, and won’t become a bridezilla-wanna-be when exposed to his high-society world and the trappings of wealth.
She never expected a computer program to be her fairy godmother…
Fiona McKenzie returns home from college to discover the family ranch threatened by foreclosure. Desperate to find a way to earn enough money to pay off medical and mortgage bills, she’ll do practically anything to save the home she loves. Unbeknownst to Fiona, her stepsisters enter her name in an online dating system, which she flat-out tells them she doesn’t have time for nor the inclination. Her focus is on saving the ranch.
When Gage’s date is reluctant to go out with him, he’s challenged to win her over. After a little digging, he discovers she’s in a tight financial situation. He sees this as an angle to pay for a date, help her out, with no strings attached when the charity ball is over. Only he didn’t count on falling for the pretty cowgirl, turned Cinderella. With her family ranch on the line, Fiona has no other choice than to accept Gage’s offer and she’s swept into a world of high-society most girls would consider a dream come true. Fiona isn’t impressed, but finds her prince charming a little to attractive to forget when the spell wears off.
Note: Make a stop at Myla Jackson’s Ugly Stick Saloon in this story and say hello to old friends.
Laila’s Lies, the latest taste of the Members Only Series, is now available for your reading pleasure!!
This is actually the ninth story in this series so if you haven’t read it yet you can have a book hangover as quickly as tomorrow!!! Don’t miss out!!
Being sent to dig up proof The Library was actually a private BDSM club was her ticket to a promotion. Simple. Easy. But it wasn’t.
Not when she would have to betray the three men who captured her heart from the very first heated stare. Not when she would have to turn her back on the women who saw who she’d kept hidden from everyone. A submissive.
Choosing between her past and future will rock the foundation of everything she holds true. Until she understands the power she holds when she’s on her knees.
A Romantica® ménage erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
Would you like to win a copy of Laila’s Lies to binge read of your very own? Or any one of my Members Only series?!?
Super!! I’d hoped you would!
All you have to do is go sign up for an amazingly awesome blog I’m on with several other authors!
Just click on the I understand and wish to continue button that says you’re an adult (and your heart can stand epic levels of decadence)! Then on the right under followers click on follow this site and just follow the instructions. Super easy. Then come back here and tell me what you think is Decadent in romance books!Especially in kink, cause I LOVE kink!
Happy posting! And please include your email address in the post so I can contact you with the shiny new copy of something wonderful to read!
Decadently Yours,
Jennifer Kacey
Need a bit more on the kinky and naughty side before you can get your fill of Laila and her 3 (yes I said 3) sexy men? I’ve gotcha covered!!
The books in the Members Only Series can be found here…
Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her family in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.
UPDATE: The winner of one a free shorty from among those stories spinning in my carousel is…Carey Sabala!
* * * * *
It’s Saturday, but I’m up early today. I’m going to a Gelli class at 9 AM with my dd and my mom. What is Gelli you might ask? It’s a printing plate made of this wiggly gel that you brayer on paint, texturize the paint with stencils or your own scribbles, then you place paper over the painted/scribbled-on plate and “pull off” a colorful printed image that you can use in mixed media art. Whew. Taking a breath after that really long sentence! And for most you, what I said didn’t mean a thing. But that’s okay. We’re going to have fun.
What can you do while I’m off playing with Gellis and paint? How about read a naughty story or two. There’s time if the story’s short! And you know what I’m going to talk about now…
I started at the end of January publishing a short story a week in the Kindle store. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, they are free. For everyone else, they are $0.99. I have all these shorts I’ve written over, and other than grouping them in collections, and publishing them that way, I had no way for you to enjoy them. Until KU made it possible for me to get a little compensation for my effort and a nifty way for readers to “sample my wares.” It’s been fun getting each of these short stories ready for publication. I hope you’ve tried a few. Or if you have a really dead weekend, you could sample them all!
If you’d like to savor the pretty covers, I have a web page devoted to my “shorties.”
Here’s yesterday’s new addition:
The Pleasure in Surrender
After the lady of the keep bars her gates to the barbarian the king commands she wed, the half-Viking knight scales the walls of her heart…
Excerpt:
A draft brushed her face. She’d closed the door and latched the pigskin curtain over her narrow window. A scuff of a foot had her stiffening, but she heard no more above the pounding of her heart. She wasn’t alone. “Who’s there?” she whispered.
“I think you know,” came a deep, rumbling drawl.
She drew a deep breath and came up slowly, scooting to the far side of her bed. Her knife was on her chatelaine’s belt hanging from a peg beside the door. She was weaponless. “My people?”
“Your man Geade surrendered as soon as he realized the keep was overrun. No one was harmed.”
“How?”
“Does it matter? I’ve taken this castle. The only question now is one I want answered: Why did you bar the gates?”
Edwina shivered at his graveled voice. “I was promised time to grieve before I accepted another husband.”
“Alred suspected you would grieve until you were old. Did you really think he would defy the king’s order for you?”
She lifted her chin although she knew the gesture couldn’t be seen—not unless Vikings had eyes like cats. “I expected him to honor his promise. I paid for the privilege.”
“About that—he returned the gold. To me.” His footsteps drew nearer her bed. “But that doesn’t answer the question. Why, Edwina?”
Her mouth grew dry at the rasping texture of his deep voice. She swallowed and set her back against the wall. “I wed once for political expediency. This time, I wanted a choice.”
He remained silent for a long moment. “And yet you have turned away every suitor who approached you.”
“None were worthy.”
“You hold yourself in such high esteem?”
“I worried for my people. Warriors don’t make the best farmers.”
His footsteps scraped closer.
She pressed harder against cold stone.
“I will admit, I’ve little experience with farming. But I understood you were competent. That I could rely on you to teach me.”
He said the words slowly, and she tried to read his intentions in the inflections of his voice. Could he be telling her the truth? Would he allow her to continue as steward of her land? “Are we…negotiating?”
After a long moment, he cleared his throat. “You wed young.”
“I had no choice, but Malcolm was malleable and a drunk. We came to an arrangement that suited us both. I managed the estate. He drank and caroused, spending from a generous budget. We were both satisfied.”
“You managed him and the estate.”
“Yes.”
After a pause, he said, “I’m not malleable. Nor will I be managed.”
She heard the steel in his tone. She forced a derisive note into her own. “I was afraid of that. It’s why I closed the gates and prepared for a siege.”
He strode closer. His large shadow was inky black, ominous. “You do realize this is our wedding night? You are already my wife by the king’s decree. Only consummation awaits.”
Alarm rattled through her. “But there must be a wedding. The banns should be read.”
“No, Edwina. Your resistance ends tonight.”
*~*~*~*~*
The Contest
Hope you enjoyed! Leave an answer to the following question in the comments and you’ll be entered to win a copy of any of the shorties in the Amazon carousel below EXCEPT The Pleasure in Surrender. That one, I hope you’ll purchase on your own!
Are you artistic, or like me, do you wish you were? And like me, do you dabble?
March is Women’s History Month. There are many who made their mark in history and one of my favorites is Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603, reigned from 1558 to death).
Elizabeth’s greatness lies in two parts. The first that she survives to become Queen, and second that she guided England from the disastrous state she inherited to a wealthy and stable country.
As the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth was born a princess, but as Henry progressed through his six wives, she was declared illegitimate, shifted from pillar to post and eventually reinstated third in the succession after her younger half-brother Edward, her older half-sister Mary (who also went through the legitimate/illegitimate back and forth).
Nine year old Edward VI succeed at Henry’s death and he pushed the English church further into Protestantism. To maintain the change in religion started under Henry, Edward and his advisers changed the order of succession leaving out both Mary and Elizabeth. He left the throne to Lady Jane Grey, a great-grand daughter of Henry VII and Edward’s cousin. However on Edward’s death, the country, however, supported Mary Tudor.
Unfortunately, Mary tried to bring England back into the Catholic fold. While Mary was queen there were several rebellions as protest against the reinstatement of Catholicism or against the marriage to Philip of Spain. As the Protestant heir to the throne, Elizabeth was the focus of any attempt to end Mary’s reign. Mary had Elizabeth in and out of the tower or under house arrest with these rebellions.
Her early childhood and her confinements taught Elizabeth to keep her innermost thoughts and feelings to herself, and she continued to do so throughout her queen ship. She managed to survive a stint of house arrest as she was a focus point for those against Mary’s policies. Then with Mary’s death, Elizabeth came to the throne.
The second part of the Elizabeth’s greatness was her forty-four year reign that brought stability to England.
At the time of her ascension Scottish preacher John Knox published “The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Reign of Women”, predicting disaster in France with the regency of Catherine de ’Medici, in Scotland with Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I in England.
France was racked by religious wars under Catherine and her sons, Mary was forced from Scotland and lived as a prisoner in England. Only Elizabeth and England prospered. She became the Supreme Governor of the English Protestant church, saying she did not want to make windows into men’s souls, only requiring their outward conformity. This evolved into today’s Church of England.
Early in her reign she refused to marry, for to do so would tie England to another country. Her predecessor Mary had married Philip of Spain which tied England to the Spanish war with the Low Countries. This resulted in the loss of Calais, the last English possession on the continent. Elizabeth was pressed by her advisers to marry and produce an heir. Although she was often ‘engaged’ to various European royalty, these were more in the area of an alliances that helped the country. She often spoke of England as her child.
Other major events under her reign included the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, which let England rule the seas and develop her colonies in the Americas. This was the time of the Elizabethan Renaissance as under her reign prosperity and stability bought forth a burst of literary figures such as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlow and Edmund Spenser.
Not too bad for a women born, grew up and came to reign in a man’s world.
I’ll be giving a workshop at the California Dreamin’ Conference https://caldreaminwritersconf.org/ titled STEP BACK IN TIME: Creating Realistic Historical Heroines which brought Elizabeth I to mind.
Terry Irene Blain was lucky enough to grow up in a large Midwestern family with a rich oral tradition. As a child she heard stories of ancestor’s adventures with Indians, wild life, weather and frontier life in general. So she naturally gravitated to the study of history completing a BA and MA in History and taught History at the college level. Married to a US Navy sailor, now retired, she’s had the chance to live in various parts of the United States as well as travel to foreign places such as Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland. She currently writes contemporary as well as historical romance based in the American west.
Figure skater Tiffany Lennox is busy with rehearsals for an upcoming ice show when the only man she’s ever loved comes home after a two-year overseas stint. She needs him to see her for the woman she’s become and not the child he knew to ensure he stays home, this time, for good. With her.
So, this is day three of the time change and I don’t like it! It’s interfering with my rhythm!
Get out the tiara! Cinderella is in the house! How many of us grew up to the fairytales of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, wishing our handsome prince would ride in and save the day? Yes, it would be nice to be loved by a handsome man, but most of us are women who are strong and able to take care of ourselves. It’s not just the handsome prince and the promise of a kingdom that intrigues us. It’s the dress and the tiara we all want and love! Right? Okay, maybe not, but you have to admit you could look at beautiful ball gowns and shiny tiaras all day long.
I’m a Big Bang Theory mega-fan and one of my favorite episodes was the one where Sheldon got Amy a “make-up” gift for being insensitive. The whole time she was telling him a gift wouldn’t begin to make up for his rude behavior she was reaching into the bag to see what it was. When she pulled out a glitzy tiara, she lost the cool, logical scientist and melted into a girlie, twittery female tickled to death by a tiara. Yeah, I think deep down we’d all like to wear a tiara and a gorgeous dress.
Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her family in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.
March is Women’s History Month. There are many who made their mark in history and one of my favorites is Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603, reigned from 1558 to death).
Her early childhood and her confinements taught Elizabeth to keep her innermost thoughts and feelings to herself, and she continued to do so throughout her queen ship. She managed to survive a stint of house arrest as she was a focus point for those against Mary’s policies. Then with Mary’s death, Elizabeth came to the throne.
Terry Irene Blain was lucky enough to grow up in a large Midwestern family with a rich oral tradition. As a child she heard stories of ancestor’s adventures with Indians, wild life, weather and frontier life in general. So she naturally gravitated to the study of history completing a BA and MA in History and taught History at the college level. Married to a US Navy sailor, now retired, she’s had the chance to live in various parts of the United States as well as travel to foreign places such as Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland. She currently writes contemporary as well as historical romance based in the American west.
