Check out Lori's wonderful review of my Out of Olympus romance novel A TOUCH OF GREEK. Many thanks to Lori for letting her readers know about my new Greek God series.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
On Vacation and the Importance of Reviews
My dear readers,
I'm leaving for Germany and Italy tomorrow, so my blog will be relatively quiet over the next three weeks. In the meantime, I hope you have plenty of reading material. I sure do. My Kindle is loaded with several books I want to read, a book I'm reviewing for a fellow indie author, and I'm also taking a couple of paperbacks with me that I haven't read yet (for those time when my husband will steal me Kindle!).
Please keep the reviews of my books coming. It's such a thrill for me to read what you're thinking of my books, the characters I've birthed, and the worlds I've built. Some of you probably know how important good and informative reviews are on Amazon: I certainly always read some of the reviews before I buy a book from an author I don't know too much about. Your reviews help support my writing. The more good reviews, the more books I can sell, and the more time I can spend on writing rather than other income producing activities.
As an incentive for you to leave reviews, I will be raffling off the next books in both the Out of Olympus and the Scanguards Vampires series. See the back of A Touch of Greek, Samson's Lovely Mortal and Amaury's Hellion for details on how to enter.
Auf Wiedersehn and Ciao!
Tina
I'm leaving for Germany and Italy tomorrow, so my blog will be relatively quiet over the next three weeks. In the meantime, I hope you have plenty of reading material. I sure do. My Kindle is loaded with several books I want to read, a book I'm reviewing for a fellow indie author, and I'm also taking a couple of paperbacks with me that I haven't read yet (for those time when my husband will steal me Kindle!).
Please keep the reviews of my books coming. It's such a thrill for me to read what you're thinking of my books, the characters I've birthed, and the worlds I've built. Some of you probably know how important good and informative reviews are on Amazon: I certainly always read some of the reviews before I buy a book from an author I don't know too much about. Your reviews help support my writing. The more good reviews, the more books I can sell, and the more time I can spend on writing rather than other income producing activities.
As an incentive for you to leave reviews, I will be raffling off the next books in both the Out of Olympus and the Scanguards Vampires series. See the back of A Touch of Greek, Samson's Lovely Mortal and Amaury's Hellion for details on how to enter.
Auf Wiedersehn and Ciao!
Tina
Friday, October 15, 2010
Soon coming in Paperback
Soon, most of my books will be available in paperback through Amazon.com. The following titles will be released in paperback during November:
More titles will follow in December. The only book currently available in paperback is Samson's Lovely Mortal. I was able to reduce the price for Samson's Lovely Mortal to $8.99 (however, it appears the new price is not reflected on Amazon.com yet - please allow a few more days for this change to filter through.)
- Amaury's Hellion
- A Touch of Greek
- Lawful Escort
- Naked Shorts (Anthology)
More titles will follow in December. The only book currently available in paperback is Samson's Lovely Mortal. I was able to reduce the price for Samson's Lovely Mortal to $8.99 (however, it appears the new price is not reflected on Amazon.com yet - please allow a few more days for this change to filter through.)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Become a character in HP Mallory's new book
So, who hasn't wished to be in a romantic novel? Well, here's your chance! HP Mallory wants to write you into her next book, Toil and Trouble which is due to release on Jan 1, 2011!
She's about 2/3 finished with Toil and Trouble, the follow up book to Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble, the first book in the Jolie Wilkins series.
Here are the contest parameters:
Enter to be written as a character in her book, Toil and Trouble. She'll create your character using your name, description and personality (She'll have to send over a questionnaire, etc. to find out all about you!)
She already knows which character you'll be and without giving away too much, this character is:
* integral to the storyline
* mentioned in Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble
* will play a part in all future books in the Jolie Wilkins series
The winner will get:
* A written part in Toil and Trouble and future Jolie Wilkins books
* The ability to read Toil and Trouble before it's released to the public
* Added to the Acknowledgments page of Toil and Trouble
* Interviewed on HP's blog
* A signed (with dedication) paperback copy of Toil and Trouble
* A signed paperback copy of Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble and To Kill A Warlock
For rules and how to enter: HP Mallory's Blog
She's about 2/3 finished with Toil and Trouble, the follow up book to Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble, the first book in the Jolie Wilkins series.
Here are the contest parameters:
Enter to be written as a character in her book, Toil and Trouble. She'll create your character using your name, description and personality (She'll have to send over a questionnaire, etc. to find out all about you!)
She already knows which character you'll be and without giving away too much, this character is:
* integral to the storyline
* mentioned in Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble
* will play a part in all future books in the Jolie Wilkins series
The winner will get:
* A written part in Toil and Trouble and future Jolie Wilkins books
* The ability to read Toil and Trouble before it's released to the public
* Added to the Acknowledgments page of Toil and Trouble
* Interviewed on HP's blog
* A signed (with dedication) paperback copy of Toil and Trouble
* A signed paperback copy of Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble and To Kill A Warlock
For rules and how to enter: HP Mallory's Blog
Monday, October 11, 2010
Samson's Lovely Mortal - Paperback currently discounted at Amazon
Amazon.com is currently discounting Samson's Lovely Mortal from its regular paperback price of $11.99 down to $8.63.
Amaury's Hellion - to be released in Paperback
I'm currently working on getting Amaury's Hellion (Book 2 in the Scanguards Vampires series) released in Paperback.
Approximate release date will be end of November. Amaury's Hellion is currently available on Kindle.
Approximate release date will be end of November. Amaury's Hellion is currently available on Kindle.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Interview and Giveaway with USA Today bestselling author Kathryn Smith
Today I'd like to welcome USA Today bestselling author Kathryn Smith who writes paranormal and historical romance.
Tina: You’ve combined my favorite two genres: paranormal and historical romance. Did you think writing in one sub-genre of romance wasn’t quite difficult enough, so you figured you’d add some more world-building and rules, or what made you combine those two genres and create your Brotherhood of the Blood series?
Kathryn: LOL. Actually, my editor at the time and I were talking about what I wanted to do now that the Ryland brothers books were done. She knew I loved vampires and so she offered me the chance to do a series. I could have written the books as modern stories, but I really wanted to keep it historical. Dracula and Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde … they all have that great 19th century gothic feel to them and I wanted to try to capture a little of that. Oddly enough, at that time readers weren’t really into historical paranormal so the books didn’t perform as well as was hoped. However, what I find so fascinating is that 5 years after Be Mine Tonight came out, it’s still selling! I guess I was a little ahead of the curve.
Tina: Since you’re combining paranormal and historical romance, have you thought of writing Steampunk? It appears this sub-genre is looking for more talented writers who can handle both the historical as well as the paranormal aspects which you’re so eloquently combining in your books.
Kathryn: It’s so funny that you would ask me that because I have a Young Adult Steampunk novel coming out in June 2011. It’s called The Girl in the Steel Corset and is written under the name Kady Cross. I’m currently shopping an adult novel as well. Steampunk combines everything I love in fiction – science fiction, sometimes horror, sometimes romance, fantasy and history. I love writing the YA books and I hope I get to do more with this fantastic genre.
Tina: I just finished reading Let the Night Begin – one of your books in the Brotherhood of the Blood series (Readers: please see my 5-star review on this blog). You’re giving your vampires some interesting traits: flying for one thing. What vampire traits do you most like in your characters and why?
Kathryn: After the success of Twilight, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have made them sparkle! J My favorite vampire aspects are: only being able to come out at night, and therefore unable to face the day. It gives them a vulnerability, but also something for which readers can sympathize. I do like flying – who doesn’t? I think my favorites have to be the superior senses, strength and speed. As to why… well, I suppose I’m a bit of a traditionalist, but I really like the idea of them being ‘monsters.’ Really, they have every advantage over humans except for daylight, but are acutely vulnerable to them as well. They depend on humans for their very sustenance, so I think it’s an interesting relationship.
Tina: In Reign, the hero of the book, you captured an interesting combination: Regency rake and vampire. He has flaws and he does the heroine Olivia a terrible wrong by turning her into a vampire against her will. Were you afraid that your readers wouldn’t like the hero at first because of what he’d done? Or were you certain that his redemption was assured?
Kathryn: I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t consider if readers would forgive him or not. I just knew that he had done this awful thing, and he’d done it because he was afraid of losing her and wanted to keep her forever. Of course, this only succeeded in driving her away. He suffered for it, though. I figured if Olivia could eventually forgive him then readers would too. I think he was my favorite of all the vampires. I loved them all, but there was just something about Reign that made him feel more real to me.
Tina: The way your vampires were created in the first place was very different and original. Would you please explain to us what their origin is and how you came up with the idea?
Kathryn: People have always touted Lilith as the mother of all vampires/demons. During some of my research I read a story in which Lilith had children with Adam (in Jewish lore, Lilith was the first woman, not Eve). Eve was looking after the children when God told her He wanted to see the kids. For some reason, Eve hid Lilith’s children, and when God asked if there were any more, she said no. God, however, was God and knew she lied, so He said that those who were hidden should remain so. The story went on to say that this was how the Faery race was born. I thought, what if that was how vampires came about? So, God rejecting them explains why holy relics work against them, and silver harms them because Lilith was cursed into silver so that she might be passed from man to man as her curse dictated. That she was the silver paid to Judas came from that, and then the Templars fell into place since there are all those stories about some of them worshipping a dark lord and having unfathomable treasure.
Tina: How many books are there in the Brotherhood of the Blood series and how many more are planned? Do you have release dates so your fans can keep track?
Kathryn: There are 5 books and an anthology in the series. And they’ve all be released and are available in book stores or online. At the moment, I have no plans to write anymore, though I’m certainly open to the idea. There are so many vampire books out there right now that I’m not sure I could bring anything fresh to the table, so if I write more paranormal books I may have to look at other types of beings to write about. Right now I’m writing the YA and I have a couple of projects with my agent, so we’ll just have to see how things go.
Tina: What is your writing routine like? Are you more a panster or a plotter? Do you write every day at a specific time or specific place? Give us a flavor of what your writing day looks like.
Kathryn: I’m a plotter who likes to leave enough room to be a pantser. ;-) I do tend to have my ‘cave’ that I write in, but I can write anywhere. I seem to get more done late at night after my husband has gone to bed. There’s too much to distract me during the day! Basically I get up, have coffee and breakfast while checkingemail , Twitter, Facebook, etc. Then, I work. Sometimes this is easily said than done. Then, I break to make supper, etc. I spend the evening with my husband, and then get back to work when he toddles off to bed. I can write more between midnight and 3 a.m. than I can all my long, distracted day.
Tina: And just for fun: if you could live in any city of the world, where would it be and why?
Kathryn: Hmmm. I think that would have to beLondon San Francisco
Tina: Here's a little secret between you and me, Kathryn, there aren't actually that many big earthquakes in San Francisco. I personally have only felt one which was around 4.0 and did no damage - and I've lived here for nine years.
Many thanks to Kathryn for the great interview. If you want to find out more about her, please check out her website: Kathryn's Website
Turns out I have an autographed copy of Kathryn's book "Let the Night Begin" right here in my little home office and my arm can be twisted so I'll give it away to one reader.
Contest closes Wednesday October 13, 2010 at 10pm PST. Winner will be notified by email and has to respond within 48 hours with a mailing address, or a new winner will be chosen. Please note that I will have to receive the winner's mailing address before Saturday Oct 16th 1pm otherwise I will not be able to mail the book before my vacation.
Good luck!
The contest is now closed.
Tina: You’ve combined my favorite two genres: paranormal and historical romance. Did you think writing in one sub-genre of romance wasn’t quite difficult enough, so you figured you’d add some more world-building and rules, or what made you combine those two genres and create your Brotherhood of the Blood series?
Kathryn: LOL. Actually, my editor at the time and I were talking about what I wanted to do now that the Ryland brothers books were done. She knew I loved vampires and so she offered me the chance to do a series. I could have written the books as modern stories, but I really wanted to keep it historical. Dracula and Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde … they all have that great 19th century gothic feel to them and I wanted to try to capture a little of that. Oddly enough, at that time readers weren’t really into historical paranormal so the books didn’t perform as well as was hoped. However, what I find so fascinating is that 5 years after Be Mine Tonight came out, it’s still selling! I guess I was a little ahead of the curve.
Tina: Since you’re combining paranormal and historical romance, have you thought of writing Steampunk? It appears this sub-genre is looking for more talented writers who can handle both the historical as well as the paranormal aspects which you’re so eloquently combining in your books.
Kathryn: It’s so funny that you would ask me that because I have a Young Adult Steampunk novel coming out in June 2011. It’s called The Girl in the Steel Corset and is written under the name Kady Cross. I’m currently shopping an adult novel as well. Steampunk combines everything I love in fiction – science fiction, sometimes horror, sometimes romance, fantasy and history. I love writing the YA books and I hope I get to do more with this fantastic genre.
Tina: I just finished reading Let the Night Begin – one of your books in the Brotherhood of the Blood series (Readers: please see my 5-star review on this blog). You’re giving your vampires some interesting traits: flying for one thing. What vampire traits do you most like in your characters and why?
Kathryn: After the success of Twilight, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have made them sparkle! J My favorite vampire aspects are: only being able to come out at night, and therefore unable to face the day. It gives them a vulnerability, but also something for which readers can sympathize. I do like flying – who doesn’t? I think my favorites have to be the superior senses, strength and speed. As to why… well, I suppose I’m a bit of a traditionalist, but I really like the idea of them being ‘monsters.’ Really, they have every advantage over humans except for daylight, but are acutely vulnerable to them as well. They depend on humans for their very sustenance, so I think it’s an interesting relationship.
Tina: In Reign, the hero of the book, you captured an interesting combination: Regency rake and vampire. He has flaws and he does the heroine Olivia a terrible wrong by turning her into a vampire against her will. Were you afraid that your readers wouldn’t like the hero at first because of what he’d done? Or were you certain that his redemption was assured?
Kathryn: I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t consider if readers would forgive him or not. I just knew that he had done this awful thing, and he’d done it because he was afraid of losing her and wanted to keep her forever. Of course, this only succeeded in driving her away. He suffered for it, though. I figured if Olivia could eventually forgive him then readers would too. I think he was my favorite of all the vampires. I loved them all, but there was just something about Reign that made him feel more real to me.
Tina: The way your vampires were created in the first place was very different and original. Would you please explain to us what their origin is and how you came up with the idea?
Kathryn: People have always touted Lilith as the mother of all vampires/demons. During some of my research I read a story in which Lilith had children with Adam (in Jewish lore, Lilith was the first woman, not Eve). Eve was looking after the children when God told her He wanted to see the kids. For some reason, Eve hid Lilith’s children, and when God asked if there were any more, she said no. God, however, was God and knew she lied, so He said that those who were hidden should remain so. The story went on to say that this was how the Faery race was born. I thought, what if that was how vampires came about? So, God rejecting them explains why holy relics work against them, and silver harms them because Lilith was cursed into silver so that she might be passed from man to man as her curse dictated. That she was the silver paid to Judas came from that, and then the Templars fell into place since there are all those stories about some of them worshipping a dark lord and having unfathomable treasure.
Tina: How many books are there in the Brotherhood of the Blood series and how many more are planned? Do you have release dates so your fans can keep track?
Kathryn: There are 5 books and an anthology in the series. And they’ve all be released and are available in book stores or online. At the moment, I have no plans to write anymore, though I’m certainly open to the idea. There are so many vampire books out there right now that I’m not sure I could bring anything fresh to the table, so if I write more paranormal books I may have to look at other types of beings to write about. Right now I’m writing the YA and I have a couple of projects with my agent, so we’ll just have to see how things go.
Tina: What is your writing routine like? Are you more a panster or a plotter? Do you write every day at a specific time or specific place? Give us a flavor of what your writing day looks like.
Kathryn: I’m a plotter who likes to leave enough room to be a pantser. ;-) I do tend to have my ‘cave’ that I write in, but I can write anywhere. I seem to get more done late at night after my husband has gone to bed. There’s too much to distract me during the day! Basically I get up, have coffee and breakfast while checking
Tina: And just for fun: if you could live in any city of the world, where would it be and why?
Kathryn: Hmmm. I think that would have to be
Tina: Here's a little secret between you and me, Kathryn, there aren't actually that many big earthquakes in San Francisco. I personally have only felt one which was around 4.0 and did no damage - and I've lived here for nine years.
Many thanks to Kathryn for the great interview. If you want to find out more about her, please check out her website: Kathryn's Website
And now to the Giveaway!
Turns out I have an autographed copy of Kathryn's book "Let the Night Begin" right here in my little home office and my arm can be twisted so I'll give it away to one reader.
To enter:
Leave a comment with your email address below.
Contest open to US residents only due to shipping costs.
Contest open to US residents only due to shipping costs.
Get extra entries:
- +1 for being a current or new follower of this blog
- +1 for being a current or new Facebook friend of Tina
- +1 for being a current or new follower of Tina on Twitter
- +1 for tweeting / blogging or Facebooking about this contest
Contest closes Wednesday October 13, 2010 at 10pm PST. Winner will be notified by email and has to respond within 48 hours with a mailing address, or a new winner will be chosen. Please note that I will have to receive the winner's mailing address before Saturday Oct 16th 1pm otherwise I will not be able to mail the book before my vacation.
Good luck!
The contest is now closed.
The winner is
Jolene!
Congratulations!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
What a Ride! Adventures of a free Kindle book
I'm sure many of the independent authors out there are asking themselves right now how I managed to offer my erotic novella STEAL ME for free on Amazon Kindle for 4 days. The answer is: I haven't got the faintest clue.
On Friday October 1, around 10am STEAL ME was suddenly available for free on Kindle. Sales skyrocketed instantly. Within a day over 2000 readers downloaded my little erotic short story and propelled me into the top 100 Free Kindle Books. At one point my book was as high as #15 in the bestseller list.
I can't even begin to describe what kind of feeling this was. Over the four days that my short story was available for free, it was downloaded over 9000 times. So, potentially 9000 people will be reading my short story. Of course, not everybody will like it. Somebody's already left a 2-star review complaining about the sex - apparently there was too much of it and it was too explicit. And it read like a XXX movie. Well, I do warn readers in my blurb that this is an erotic novella with hot and steamy sex scenes. Maybe I should have been more explicit? Or maybe not.
Why Amazon did this with my book, I have no idea, but I will forever be grateful for this wonderful opportunity to get my work in front of readers who might otherwise never have considered me. It appears that it is already paying off.
In the back of STEAL ME the first chapter of Samson's Lovely Mortal was offered as a teaser, and low and behold, my sales for Samson's Lovely Mortal nearly doubled starting two days after STEAL ME was first offered as a freebie. At the same time sales of some of my other books also saw a small uptick. It looks like I might have picked up a few new readers.
Many thanks to whoever out there at Amazon.com decided to pick my book for a freebie, and also many thanks to all the readers who've downloaded my short story and are reading it. I hope you'll enjoy it for what it is: a short erotic ride that doesn't take itself too seriously.
And, since this might never happen again: I've just been bumped into #14 of the top 100 Paid in Kindle. So, I had to take a picture of that.
On Friday October 1, around 10am STEAL ME was suddenly available for free on Kindle. Sales skyrocketed instantly. Within a day over 2000 readers downloaded my little erotic short story and propelled me into the top 100 Free Kindle Books. At one point my book was as high as #15 in the bestseller list.
I can't even begin to describe what kind of feeling this was. Over the four days that my short story was available for free, it was downloaded over 9000 times. So, potentially 9000 people will be reading my short story. Of course, not everybody will like it. Somebody's already left a 2-star review complaining about the sex - apparently there was too much of it and it was too explicit. And it read like a XXX movie. Well, I do warn readers in my blurb that this is an erotic novella with hot and steamy sex scenes. Maybe I should have been more explicit? Or maybe not.
Why Amazon did this with my book, I have no idea, but I will forever be grateful for this wonderful opportunity to get my work in front of readers who might otherwise never have considered me. It appears that it is already paying off.
In the back of STEAL ME the first chapter of Samson's Lovely Mortal was offered as a teaser, and low and behold, my sales for Samson's Lovely Mortal nearly doubled starting two days after STEAL ME was first offered as a freebie. At the same time sales of some of my other books also saw a small uptick. It looks like I might have picked up a few new readers.
Many thanks to whoever out there at Amazon.com decided to pick my book for a freebie, and also many thanks to all the readers who've downloaded my short story and are reading it. I hope you'll enjoy it for what it is: a short erotic ride that doesn't take itself too seriously.
And, since this might never happen again: I've just been bumped into #14 of the top 100 Paid in Kindle. So, I had to take a picture of that.
5-star review for The Wrong Suitor
Go visit Laurie's Bitten by Paranormal Romance Blog for a review of my erotic short story The Wrong Suitor. She rated it a 5! If you're into erotic westerns you might like this one.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Book Covers matter
In a recent interview I gave to Beth Barany for her Writers Fun Zone, I told her how important book covers are even for e-books. I'd like to underscore this with a visual example.
And here is the new one I am using now:
No wonder my sales were low when I first started out. The story is still the same, but my sales improved tremendously after I uploaded the new cover. It looks much more professional, classy, and sexy. Since this is an erotic romance, that's exactly what I want to convey to the reader.
Currently, STEAL ME is available for free on Amazon Kindle and ranks 20th in the top 100 Free Kindle Books. If you haven't downloaded your copy yet, please do it soon - I don't know how long Amazon will continue this promotion.
Here's the old cover I used when I first started selling STEAL ME on Amazon Kindle:
And here is the new one I am using now:
Currently, STEAL ME is available for free on Amazon Kindle and ranks 20th in the top 100 Free Kindle Books. If you haven't downloaded your copy yet, please do it soon - I don't know how long Amazon will continue this promotion.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Released on Kindle: A TOUCH OF GREEK
Now available on Kindle (earlier than expected!)
A TOUCH OF GREEK
Book 1 in the sexy new Out of Olympus Series
Buy your $0.99 copy now! Price is good until 10/12/10 only.
Selfish and gorgeous Greek God Triton is cast out of Olympus after seducing Zeus’ mistress and can only gain reentry if he finds a woman who loves him for his kindness and selflessness, not his beauty. When the mortal Sophia – recovering from an eye operation and virtually blind – needs a home healthcare worker, he takes on the role, hoping she will be his ticket home.
While defending Sophia from an unknown adversary, Triton’s protective instinct emerges. At the same time rival Gods do everything to doom him to failure. And even if Triton can win Sophia’s love, will he throw it away to return home, or will he lose his own heart to the only woman who truly sees him?
A Touch of Greek is the first book in the humorous and sexy paranormal romance series Out of Olympus following the romantic adventures of four Gods: Triton, Dionysus, Eros, and Hermes.
The next book in the series (Dionysus) is planned for March 2011.
Free on Kindle
For whatever reason, Amazon has decided to offer my erotic short story STEAL ME for free on Kindle. Since I have no idea why they did that, I can't tell you either how long this offer is good for, so follow the link and get your free copy now.
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