Author Spotlight at Written in Blood

Stop by at Katie Salidas' Blog today for an author spotlight on me.

Impromptu Giveaway! Seduced by the Wolf by Terry Spear

Upon rummaging through my disorganized office, I have discovered that I have two brand-new copies of the same book: one I received in a giveaway, the other was given to me by a friend. Clearly, I can't read both of them. So, I'll be giving one away:

Here's the summary of the book:

His first priority is to protect his pack - Werewolf pack leader Leidolf Wildhaven has just taken over a demoralized pack. With rogue wolves on the loose causing havoc and the authorities from the zoo suddenly zeroing in on the local wolf population, the last thing he needs in his territory is a do-gooder female, no matter how beautiful and enticing she is.

She'll do anything to help wolves - Biologist Cassie Roux has dedicated her life to protecting wolves in the wild. On a desperate mission to help a she-wolf with newborn pups, the last thing Cassie needs right now is a nosy and entirely too attractive werewolf pack leader trying to track her down.

With rogue wolves and hunters threatening at every turn, Cassie and Leidolf may find their attraction the most dangerous force of all.



To enter for a chance to win the book:

1 entry - just for leaving your email address in the comment section
1 entry - for being a current or new Twitter follower: Tina Folsom  (please mention your twitter name)
1 entry - for becoming my Facebook friend Tina Folsom on Facebook
1 entry - for being a current or new follower of my blog
1 entry - for posting this giveaway on facebook, twitter, or other blogs (please mention the link in your comment)

The giveaway will close on Wednesday September 15, 2010 at midnight PST. Winner will be notified by email to the email address they provide in their comment and announced on this blog. US/Canada only due to shipping costs.

Good Luck!

The contest is now closed.

Interview with Lydia Dare

Please join me in welcoming Lydia Dare to my blog.

Tina: Behind the name Lydia Dare is a writing team of two women. Would you introduce yourselves to my readers and give them a little insight into your backgrounds?

Jodie: Hi, Tina! Thanks for having us today. I guess I’ll start. I am Jodie Pearson. I am currently the President of Heart of Carolina Romance Writers and I bring my knowledge and love of Regency England to the table. I began screenwriting way back when, but now focus on novels.

Tammy:  Hi!  I’m Tammy Falkner and I am a mom of two boys, am self employed, and started writing romance about seven years ago when I had my second child.  I am the quintessential sports mom who likes nothing more than being a huge embarrassment to my children when I cheer from the bleachers.

Tina: A writing team seems to face other challenges than an author who works on her own. What do you think your greatest challenges are?

Jodie: Not killing each other. Just kidding. We get along great, but we are very different from each other. Our ideas aren’t always in sync, but we have a ton of respect for each other and have somehow made it work thus far.

Tammy: Honestly, I thought it would be much harder than it is to write with a partner.  When I came home and told my husband about the idea he scoffed and said, “I know how long that will last…”  But, in reality, we’re each strong where the other is weak, and we each accept where the other knows a little more and are willing to defer.  Of course, there’s always the stopping point where one of us says “I just can’t write that.”  Then we have to rethink and keep going.

Tina: When you write a novel, does one of you write from the Hero’s point of view and the other from the Heroine’s point of view? Or how do you decide who writes what?

Jodie: We write linearly. One of us will start a book and write the first 5-10 pages, then we’ll send them off to the other, who will edit those pages and then write the next 5-10. We go back and forth like this until we get to the very end.

Tammy:  It’s kind of nice to be able to send the pages off to another person when you get stuck.  Then you get them back and you know exactly where to take it next.  It’s kind of like shipping the kids off to Grandma’s.  You never know what they’ll do when they’re gone, but you’re happy to hear about it when they come home.

Tina: Was A Certain Wolfish Charm the first book you wrote together?

Jodie: A Certain Wolfish Charm was our first collaboration. We wrote it in two months and two months later we finished Tall, Dark and Wolfish.

Tina: You’re published by Sourcebooks, the largest women-owned publisher in the US. What is your experience working with them?

Jodie: I can’t say enough good things about Sourcebooks. Deb Werksman is wonderful to write for and Dominique Raccah is amazing and so full of energy. Whenever we are with them, we feel like we’re part of the family.

Tammy:  Dominique won us over at her spotlight at RWA Nationals three years ago when she gave her presentation about the company with such enthusiasm. She still carries that excitement over today.  And Deb Werksman, we can’t say enough about her. She knows and loves our characters as well as we do. And we have enjoyed every minute of our work with her.

Tina: I’m sure many readers don’t know how much work goes into one single book. What is your writing process like, and how do you cope with editorial input you receive from your publisher?

Jodie: How do I cope with editorial input? I cry and curl up in a ball. Again – I’m kidding. Though that part is always a little stressful. As far as how much work goes into the book. This is the process: After we write the manuscript, we send it off to our amazing agent Melissa Jeglinski. Melissa will read through it, perhaps make a suggestion or perhaps not, and then she’ll send it off to Deb Werksman. Deb will read the manuscript and come back with editorial changes she wants made. We’ll make those changes using track changes and send it back to her. Then we get copy edits and read back through the changes and either accept with the suggested changes or explain why we don’t want to make the change. Then we send it back. And then, we get the final in a .pdf and go through it once more. This is our last chance to tweak anything or catch any stray Scottish brogue. We’ll send it back and then we are done with that particular book. But so many other people work on each book.

Tammy:  The writing process is usually just a trade off of pages back and forth.  But before we start writing, we do have to have a really clear picture of what our characters look like.  So, we actually cast our characters.  We use stock photo sites and go through hundreds of photos until we agree that the one in the photo looks like what we both envision.  It can be difficult agreeing on that.  Once that part of the process is done, we dive in and don’t look back.

Tina: All books in your Regency England has gone to the Wolves Trilogy have now been published. What are your plans going forward?

Jodie: The first trilogy is out there on the shelves. We have a connected book coming out November 2nd – The Taming of the Wolf. Then next year, beginning in April, we have another trilogy featuring witches from Elspeth’s coven and some very sexy vampyres.

Tammy:  Then we’ll be off to write more wolves, we hope!!

Tina: When you read for fun, what kind of books do you like to read?

Jodie: Oh, I wish I had time to read. These days I’m so busy that I thumb through research books. But if I am able to take a vacation, I will be bringing with me the latest releases of Sabrina Jeffries, Deb Marlowe, Claudia Dain and Liz Carlyle.

Tammy: Historical romance has always been my favorite read. But I also like Elizabeth Lowell, Kresley Cole, and some other contemporary writers.  Right now, we’re so busy writing and editing that I haven’t had time to crack a book in quite some time.

Again, thanks so much for having us!  We’re having a lot of fun writing these stories, and hope the readers love the characters as much as we do.

Tina: Thanks to both of you for your time and giving us a great insight into your work.

For more on Lydia Dare, please visit her website: Lydia Dare

Please find below links to Lydia Dare's Trilogy.

Outstanding review for Samson's Lovely Mortal

Laurie from Bitten by Paranormal Romance has posted an outstanding review for Samson's Lovely Mortal. Go and visit her site. I will be interviewed by her on September 27, 2010.

Review by Bitten by Paranormal Romance

Update on the Greek Gods

I know some of you have read my excerpt of A Touch of Greek which was supposed to hit Amazon Kindle in September. Well, here's an update. The manuscript is ready. However, it was requested by a traditional publisher and while it is out on submission, my hands are tied. I will keep you all posted as to the progress on this.

Meanwhile I'm down with bronchitis and not quite up for writing - I know, I'll have to continue on Book 3 of  the Scanguards Vampires series once I feel better. However, I figured at least I'd use the time to plot out one of my next books, namely book 2 in the Greek God series. Here's what it looks like so far:

My story board for Book 2 of Out of Olympus

If you can make out the little green pins, they mean that I have a sex scene or kissing scene planned. I know, I should really use red, but I ran out of red pins.

Blogging at Indie Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Blog

I'm talking about plotting over at Indie Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Blog. Read my bog post entitled "The Plot Thickens" and find out about sex at 60.

Win Book 3 in Scanguards Vampires Series

The contest to win a free e-copy of Book 3 in the Scanguards Vampires Series is open till December 1, 2010. Check out the rules on my website: Tina Writes Romance or below:

1. Write a review for either Samson's Lovely Mortal or Amaury's Hellion on Amazon.com or Amazon.uk
2. Email me at authortinafolsom at gmail dot com and let me know your reviewer name on Amazon and you will be entered in the draw.

Two e-books will be given away: one for a reviewer of Samson's Lovely Mortal and one for a reviewer of Amaury's Hellion. You may enter in both giveaways by posting reviews for both books.

Winners will be notified by email to the email address they provide and may choose between the following formats: Kindle/mobi, pdf, ePub.