1st anniversary

Today is Ravenous Romance's One Year Anniversary.


Meaning it's also the One Year Anniversary of me being published. They picked up the first of my Druids books, Murder & Magick at RWA in San Fransisco (and the other 3 on synopsis) and I have to say, for my first national conference, it was definitely worth the price of admission!

(Technically, The Wild Rose Press offered me a contract first in July for my Civil War story, In the Shadows, and I already knew I won the Got Wolf? Contest with their Black Rose line but that isn't the point.)

Actually seeing my book up on a site and for sale is today. I'm pretty psyched.

In one year, I've had 5 full-length novels published with them, all of which have received great reviews, and, hmm, let me count...maybe 12 short stories either in anthologies or as stand-alones. Wow. 12? Sheesh!

This last year has been crazy busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I've enjoyed writing for them, and they've been great in return. The whole Home Shopping Network deal was a fantastic bonus!!

Here's wishing Ravenous many more years and even greater sales! (What? They're my publisher, I want them to do good!)

Home Shopping Network

I spent a good portion of yesterday watching HSN and online at www.hsn.com. If you missed it, Ravenous Romance made their debut at 8 am, 4 pm, and 3 am selling their trade paperback books, 2 of mine included: Kiss of Scandal and Murder and Magick.

In the randomness that is my mind I bing-ed (as opposed to googled) them and found this article. I don't know why I liked the article, but I did. It's from 2002.

It started with 112 can openers

My favorite part:

Twenty-five years ago this month, in a little strip mall on Hercules Avenue
in Clearwater, Bob Circosta was doing a news talk show on WWQT-AM 1470.An
advertiser called the station. He was short on funds, so instead of money, he
offered up 112 Rival electric can openers. Olive green. (What? It was the '70s.)

"I couldn't believe it," Circosta recalled. "I said, "What?"'

Circosta, who was 27 at the time, wanted to be a news anchor at a major TV
network. Another Cronkite or Brinkley. Not a small appliance salesman.

He sold all 112 in about an hour.

Upcoming events

I've been lax in updating my blog lately, but I wanted to update where I'll be in the coming days.

Tonight: 6:00 pm-10:00 pm Paranormal/Fantasy Authors Chat LRMC http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesCafe/

I'll talk about my Druids series, a new idea for a contemporary paranormal, and world building in general. Along with my fellow Ravenous authors. Come join us!

Tomorrow I'll be over at a dear friend of mine's blog, Nicole McCaffrey, for her Friday Friends.

September's going to be a busy month blogging wise as well, so check back!

Kiss of Scandal, now available from Ravenous Romance.

In the wreckage of a friend’s death, Countess Katria Markova finds her perfectly ordered life, irrevocably altered. Russian politics proves more dangerous than the front lines of war, and when her fiancé’s future is threatened by rumors of treason, their cat-and-mouse game ends. In its place, a political game, where their very lives are at stake, begins.

Count Nikolai Orlov will do anything to clear his brother’s name. Anything except put Katria in harm’s way. Attracted to her from the moment they met, he’s spent their time together breaking the wall that surrounds her heart. He wants the passionate woman beneath, wants to shatter her cool exterior.

With her life in danger, Nikolai’s only course of action is to exact revenge. From the snowy streets of St. Petersburg to the River Neva’s icy depths, they search for the answers to clear Nikolai. But in their search, will they lose each other?

Kiss of Scandal

Released today from Ravenous Romance, my 1855 Russian set historical, Kiss of Scandal!

Blurb: In the wreckage of a friend's death, Countess Katria Markova finds her perfectly ordered life, irrevocably altered. Russian politics proves more dangerous than the front lines of war, and when her fiancé’s future is threatened by rumors of treason, their cat-and-mouse game ends. In its place, a political game, where their very lives are at stake, begins.

Count Nikolai Orlov will do anything to clear his brother’s name. Anything except put Katria in harm’s way. Attracted to her from the moment they met, he’s spent their time together breaking the wall that surrounds her heart. He wants the passionate woman beneath, wants to shatter her cool exterior.

With her life in danger, Nikolai’s only course of action is to exact revenge. From the snowy streets of St. Petersburg to the River Neva’s icy depths, they search for the answers to clear Nikolai. But in their search, will they lose each other?

Excerpt:

The fingers of her left hand twitched in her skirt, the only telltale sign she was anything other than completely composed.

He wanted to shatter that composure, watch her passion consume her. Needed to do so. Wanted to taste that passion, feel her around him as he took her. His own control close to breaking, he smiled wickedly at her. The blue-green of her eyes darkened, deepened. She took a step closer, the break in her pretense widening.

Katria wasn’t as immune to him as she pretended.

In two quick steps, he crossed the room and had her in his arms. Before she could react, he kissed her. Beneath him, she opened. Her mouth was hot on his, greedy. Taking all he doled out. A small mewl of pleasure vibrated along his lips.

With a growl, he deepened the kiss. Backing her to the wall, uncaring of the voluminous skirts she wore, Nikolai lifted her. Felt her sigh, her fingers in his hair.

Surrender was so close he could taste it in the sweetness of her kiss.

“Nikolai.”

Breathing hard, he pressed his forehead to hers. He wanted to have her now. Kissing down the delicious length of her neck, he knew another crack chipped open through the wall surrounding her.

Short stories only $0.99

All my short stories (OK, all Ravenous short stories) are only 99¢.

My historicals: Complicated Courtship from 1774, Wanton Woman from 1810, Starlet from 1934 and my contemporaries: Love Birds and Sex in the Springtime.

Tryst! I forgot the prequel to my Dark Desire of the Druids series, The Tryst.

Wow

The last 6 days have been absolutely wonderful. The Scandalous Victorian's Northern Roses and Southern Belles Blog Tour was so much fun. Thank you to everyone who hosted us, participated, commented, lurked, and read!

I learned stuff about my fellow writers I hadn't before, and this project has been in the works for a year. I learned things about readers and what they love/hate/expect from a Civil War romance. I hope this anthology blew away some of those conceptions. ;)

I'm taking today off from the internet, or as much as my recently admitted obsession will allow me to, and vegging. This weekend I plan to finish plotting the zombie story I somehow agreed to write for Ravenous. It's an anthology, a zombie anthology, but in my particular story, the hero/heroine are zombie killers. Think Night of the Living Dead meets Scooby Doo. Thankfully it's short, so the humor isn't a problem. I can write sarcasm, but sustained humor? Not so sure.

Will also begin plotting a Regency romantic suspense and a post-WWI romantic mystery. Am looking forward to both of those, for different reasons. The Regency for the idea I have to it and the post WWI for the sheer delight of the unusual time frame.

Edits, edits, edits

I've just (like 5 minutes ago) completed edits for Shadow State, my Wild Rose Press werewolf short story. I do love this story. :) Something about it, I can't explain what, but I have to admit, it's a favorite.

I'm now off to try and finish up a short story for Ravenous involving immortals: gods and goddesses.

Calm before the storm

Now that many of my contracts with Ravenous are fulfilled, I'm going to take a break and rest. For maybe a week. It's more a mental break than a physical one, but one that's needed.


I have several ideas percolating for new stories. Some for Ravenous, some for Wild Rose, some I'd love to see with a big print publisher in a 100k print run with movie rights...OK I might be getting ahead of myself there :)


I plan on finishing the story before sending it out: I like to have that lull where I don't need to feel rushed or pressured. I want to take the time to expand the story if I need to, or if I suddenly have THE coolest idea ever to add in for a plot. I want to have the time to do all that and not be pressured by a deadline.

My first idea is for the American Rose Line of Wild Rose. I'm still a little sketchy on details but am thinking rough and tumble politics of post-Revolution America. Nothing says American Politics like fights on the congress floor.

Need to plot that out but good before I start and to do that, research is needed. I'm currently reading The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty which isn't exactly what I want to write about but it's utterly fascinating. I have NO sympathy for either side. Self serving hypocrites the lot of them.

Then I have a half finished story I want to finish up for a Ravenous Anthology on gods and goddesses. I've run into a slight problem with that one: Length. It was supposed to be 10,000 words or less. My plot alone now seems closer to 40K words. That doesn't include writing the rest of it! It might not work, but I'm going to try it and see if it's feasible. I'll see how it goes.

Last, I have a contemporary addition to my Shadow State story from the Black Rose line of Wild Rose. It's the here-and-now of my German werewolf story. I have the vaguest of ideas for that one, and need to take an entire weekend to really break it. I don't want to do cliche but on the other hand, there are only so many things I CAN do.

But first, my week-long break. And who knows? Sleep might actually be a part of it. :) Wolverine definitely will be! As will Star Trek next week.

Dark Desire of the Druids Series:
Murder & Magick
Sex & Subterfuge
Desert & Destiny
Temptations & Treachery coming soon...

Guest blogging today!

I'm over at Wicked Thorn and Roses talking about historicals vs contemporaries and other fun stuff.

Remember to leave a comment; it automatically enters you to win a box of Godiva Chocolates and a signed DVD copy of Murder & Magick. We’ll also be giving away three $5.00 gift certificates for Ravenous on three random stops. You won’t know which ones until the tour is over, so visit as many as you can! And if you leave a comment on every stop in the RR Ornery Eleven BBT, you’re eligible to win a $25 gift certificate from Ravenous Romance!

Ravenous Romance Ornery Eleven Blog Tour

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Short Story Sale!

Ravenous is having $.50 short story day today! You can get all 6 of my short stories for just $3.00! Love Birds and Sex in the Springtime from my Four Calling Birds series; my Wicked Seductions series, Complicated Courtship, Wanton Woman, and Starlet; and The Tryst, the prequel to my Dark Desire of the Druids series (Murder & Magick and Sex & Subterfuge).

From the Ravenous site:
Today only, all Ravenous Rendezvous short stories are just $.50! Buy 10 to build your own custom anthology, and then email us at submissions@ravenousromance.com to tell us the theme of your anthology and which stories you chose. If we like the anthology you created, we'll publish it and send you a gift certificate!

Love Birds

Today's Book of the Day at Ravenous is my Valentine's short story, Love Birds. This loose series follows a group of 4 women through the year as they discover that relationships are as hard to manage as work and the two together? It's enough to make one scream. Or run for the nearest bedroom.

Lark Summers, Paige Nightingale, Megan Cardinal-Walsh, and Eva Robin are four best friends with a mission. To spend Valentine's Day with the men in their lives no matter what the day throws at them.

Lark has been in lust with her professor since she started her Ph.D. program. Now that she has her degree, she also has Professor Seth Turner as her lover. Unfortunately, he has to work on Valentine's Day leaving her alone. Or is that part of the surprise?

Nightingale seduced her downstairs neighbor right before Christmas, and now finds herself in what others might consider a relationship. She's not sure but when Adam Forrester surprises her on Valentine's Day, she's forced to admit there's more to their relationship than sex.

Cardinal's husband is full of surprises. In the past months, they've rekindled their sex life and have grown closer despite their super busy jobs. Ethan has planned a surprise weekend for her and she must follow the trail he's carefully laid out.

Robin's fiancé whisks her out of town to historic Gettysburg. Despite the coldness of the day, the antique show they attend is just what she loves. But it's later when she shows Alex just how much she enjoyed her weekend.

The next in this series, Sex in the Springtime, will be available Friday April 10 just in time for Easter!

The Tryst

Yup, still talking about my free short story, Dark Desire of the Druids: The Tryst. Why? Cause, it's free! But I'll talk a little about the overall universe.

It's still Victorian London/Philadelphia as we know it. Nothing there has changed. However, there is one very significant difference: Magickers exist and Witch Hunters are hunting them.

In Murder & Magick, Raven and Malcolm must deal with the fanatical Sir John Corwin, baronet, who's out to expose Raven and kill them both.Hunters are on the rise in England, seeking out any who display even a modicum of magick and arbitrarily murdering them. (Book trailer)

In Sex & Subterfuge, Morgana and Lucien are forced to confront reality: Bringing magickers into the open would only cause war between those with magicks and those without. In Philadelphia, things haven't reached the fevered pitch Corwin has stirred up in England. Yet. They have other problems there, not the least of which are magickers after power for themselves. Magickers who believe they're superior and should rule those with no magick.

Free short story!

From Ravenous Romance, my short story The Tryst is available for free! This is the immediate prequel to Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick; and check out my book video for Murder & Magick.

And remember, until March 31 Ravenous is doing a Buy 1 gift certificate Get 1 free!

Blurb:
From the moment he sees her, Malcolm Wargrave, Earl of Preston wanted Raven Drake. On a secluded estate in England, he sets out to seduce the very willing miss. Though she returns his passion, she belongs to another. Will this stop their rendezvous?

Raven Drake knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it. In this case, after him. Though she's a virgin, she sees this time with Malcolm as her one chance to experience unbridled passion. And she intends to take it.

But will their tryst be enough for either of them? Or will they be caught in a web of their own making, drowning in desire? In this exciting prequel to The Dark Desires of the Druids: Murder & Magick, Isabel Roman explores the passion of giving into one's deepest desires.

Dark Desire of the Druids II: Sex & Subterfuge

Wanton Woman & Scandalous Victorians

I'm over at Slip into Something Victorian today blogging about Professionalism.

My short story, Wicked Seductions: Wanton Woman is the Book of the Day on Ravenous!

The celebrated young widow, Lady Abigail Ash, possesses a pristine
reputation. A reputation she detests. Needing passion in her life, she turns to
the one man she believes can keep a secret and still make her blood burn.

Jonathon, Earl of Braden, has always wanted her but believes she's only
interested in marriage. Married once, he's vowed never to marry again, yet can't
resist Lady Abigail when she proposes an alluring assignation.

The more he has of her, the more Braden wants her. He's captivated by
her body and charm. When another man enters the picture, will it be the end of
their affair? Or Abigail prove to be more than a wanton woman?

Don't forget to join all the Scandalous Victorians at Coffee Time Romance. Give aways all month and long and indepth discussions about writing, reading, and hunks.

Ravenous Romance has extended their Buy 1 gift certificate Get 1 free until March 31!

Go Green! Read an eBook!

I'm all about recycling. I believe it's up to us to protect the planet and up to us to educate everyone else on how to, too. But this isn't a blog about how reducing-reusing-recycling are important.

This is about buying a ebook! Don't get me wrong, I love books - paperback, hardcover, ebooks, audiobooks, it's the story I love, the characters, the plot, the piece itself. I listen to audios, read off my computer, buy paperbacks, and enjoy each incarnation of the book.

Buy an ebook - download it to your computer or iPod or MP3 player. Read it on your Sony Reader or Kindle. All Romance eBooks began a campaign "to increase the public's awareness about eBooks!"

Palm Harbor, Florida (PRWEB) February 26, 2009 - The folks at All
Romance eBooks, an on-line bookstore that specializes in the sale of romance
eBooks, announced a new endeavor today, the Go Green/Read e campaign.

"The idea is to promote ebooks in general, not any specific author,
publisher, eReader, or bookstore. The campaign will focus on eBooks as a more
environmentally friendly alternative to print. On-line advertising will be
comprised of banner and video advertising, Yahoo and Google Search Ads, MySpace
Ads, the What's Hot in Romance radio show,
the Wildfire newsletter, a variety of blogs and the newly unveiled Go
Green/Read e website," explained Lori James, COO for All Romance eBooks.

The project is supported by a generous donation from All Romance
eBooks, and a team of enthusiastic volunteers. The website, www.gogreenreade.com, contains information
about the environmental impact of eBooks v print books, as well as an array of
relevant links, industry news, and several forums where issues around eBooks,
eReaders, and ePublishing can be discussed.

"We chose to do this because the idea that nature should be preserved
is important to us. It is a core value and one of the reasons that we adore
eBooks," explained All Romance eBooks CFO, Barbara Perfetti. "We care about our
carbon footprint, the world we live in, and the world that we're leaving to
future generantions."

All Romance eBooks, LLC (www.allromanceebooks.com) sells romance
eBooks for hundreds of publishers and their imprints. Founded in 2006 and
privately held in partnership, All Romance eBooks is headquartered in Palm
Harbor, Florida.

Ravenous is promoting their own Stimulus Package: "To help our readers escape to ecstasy during the recession, we're offering a buy 1, get 1 free gift certificate promotion. For every gift certificate you buy, we'll send you one for an equal amount absolutely FREE! Double your pleasure and buy one for yourself!"
All Romance eBooks
Ravenous Romance

Weekend Plans

I'm starting my weekend early this week. Tonight after work I'm heading up to my family's house in the Poconos for relaxation and snow. Even though I've heard they were in the 40s this week, they've been in the 20s at night, and I have great faith in the mountains ability to snow me in in February. Wouldn't be the first time.

That said, I have a Valentine's Day book coming out from Ravenous. A stand alone in it own right, it does follow the same 4 friends from my Christmas short, Four Calling Birds. Lark, Nightingale, Cardinal, and Robin are with their respective men during Valentine's Day but that doesn't mean their love lives are smooth. You don't have to read Four Calling Birds to follow Love Birds.

On a related note, this from Ravenous' homepage:

Ravenous Romance Wants to Give You a Valentine!
In celebration of Valentine's Day, Ravenous Romance will give every customer who purchases a full-length ebook or audiobook from February 8th through February 14th a FREE $5 gift certificate! One per customer.

Monday Mornings

Aren't as horrible as they're made out to be. Why? I think all mornings are horrible. If I could sleep through them, I'd be that much happier. I much prefer staying up all night anyway. Always have. What's this have to do with writing? Everything. I can't get started yet on any writing.

My goals today are to finish editing Scars and sending it out to Ravenous well before Sunday's deadline. (Yippee!) And to begin Starlet, the next in my Wicked Seduction Series. Set in 1930s Hollywood, a movie star seduces a gambler/gangster. What happens when he wants more than one night?

Audiobook on now: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Meggie kind of annoys me, but it is a children's book, she is only 12, and it is her story. I'll give it more time, I'm only on chapter 5.

Reading now: The Wild One by Denise Eagan. I love her characters, very real and the story is very sensual.

Listening to now: Sharpe's Soundtrack which has music for all occasions: angst, battle, jolly marching, you name it.

Scars (3rd in the Wicked Seduction series) and the short story

I have recently discovered I love writing short stories. Until August, when I sent in In the Shadows my Civil War Anthology submission to Wild Rose Press, I would have told you my shortest story was 75,000 words. Until August, my shortest story was actually 22,500 words (my beloved wolfie story now with an actual title, Shadow State contracted with Wild Rose Press).


Now? Thanks to Ravenous' 2500-6250 word count limit on their short stories (they call it a Ravenous Rendezvous...whatever) I'm in love with the short story. No, in no way does this mean I don't want to do longer stories, I love those too - there's much more to say in them, you can have more conflict, more angst. More sex. But in the short story, it's almost a race against the bad guy (word limit) to reach the ending first.

It's a poor explanation but I can't explain it any better. You have plot, sex, beginning-middle-end, and conflict. Lots and lots of conflict. It's fun, what can I say.

So today I'm working on my 1918 Rendezvous, Scars. A returning English WWI vet goes to the local pharmacy to buy the ointment needed for the scars he received on the battlefields of Flanders. What's the beautiful pharmacist to do but seduce the poor man?

And yes. I did my research. There were female pharmacists as far back at the 1860s in England. Not a lot, but they were there and voicing their opinions. I'll look for the link if anyone's interested.

All Romance e-books & Free $5 gift certificate @ Ravenous

I just got an email from All Romace eBooks and my first full-length story, Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is now available on their site! This is pretty exciting, and no not because I'm easily excited. Well maybe. I'd heard about Fictionwise, but not this. Man, they have a lot of cool books I'd love to download. My TBR pile is huge as is, this just upped the ante.

Off to explore!

Now on to Ravenous:

I've heard a lot of negative things about Ravenous Romance over the past few months. I'm not sure what the exact problem is, but it seems to boil down to a new player on the block and people don't like it. I don't know why, exactly, but I'm not going to debate it here.

What I do know about Ravenous is that they've treated me well. They stick to their deadlines, edit my stories to catch what I've missed, are professional and courteous, and are always accessible via email.

They're also giving away a $5 gift certificate between now and January 31. Simply email them requesting your gift certificate. There are no strings (and believe me I looked).

Dark Desire of the Druids I: Murder & Magick is available in downloadable and audiobook form now, as is Dark Desire of the Druids: The Tryst, the prequel to Murder & Magick. Use the gift certificate, buy Murder & Magick (or Tryst or any of the other short stories I have out including the first in my Wicked Seduction series, Complicated Courtship) and let me know how you like them.