Before I get distracted (again) by emails, promo, and my latest book, I thought I’d tell you about my new office away from home.
 
Ever since my DH lost his job, I lost my peace and quiet, not to mention time in my home office. He follows me everywhere out of boredom when he’s not actively looking for work. Needless to say, my writing has slowed to a crawl despite my ever-increasing “talks” with him about leaving me alone for a few hours.
 
Desperation began to seep into my brain. Crazy schemes like drugging him into somnolence, killing him and burying him under the vegetable garden, and booting him out of the house were hatched and discarded.
 
More viable plans like getting up early (my best bio-rhythm is for morning hours and working late at night is hopeless, trust me) failed. He’d awaken, feel the empty place next to him, and come find me!
 
I don’t know about anyone else, but my income has been affected by the sluggish economy. I have to work to pay some of the bills. I can’t just take time off. I have deadlines to make, but can’t afford a leased office space, not even a shared one. (more…)

If any of you are on Twitter, Twitter Search #RWAFAIL and/or #RWACHANGE. If you missed it, you should read RWA President Pershing’s comments about what a bunch of hacks e-published authors are:

http://espan-rwa.com/rwa-president-pershing-responds/

I’m usually one of the last to abandon ship, but I did so this year. This shows I made the right decision.

Although all of us here know what a fiasco Trisk was, it wasn’t because it was an electronic publisher. It was a publisher that made bad decisions and had a few other issues. E publishers do come and go, and guess what, so do NY Print publishers. I guess Ms. Pershing hasn’t been reading Publisher’s Weekly recently. Pubs out of business, pubs restructuring, pubs laying off, pubs “down-sizing” their editoral and promotional staffs.

I’ve never been ashamed or sad that I choose to e publish. A) it was my choice B) My conscious feels better about being kinder to our planet C) My writing buddies made here and at other e houses have been as supportive if not more so, than any of the “published” RWA recognized authors I’ve associated with.

E Publishers come in all sizes; EC being the biggest, companies like my Aspen being among the smaller. I’m pretty sure that it is also true of print publishers (ok, so I’m being sarcastic)…and if you were to compare similar tiers in big houses to indie houses you’d probably see the same slide in royalties.

The insistance of making e companies do business the print way is ludicrous. It is barely working for the print companies right now. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was taught to emulate SUCCESSFUL models not failures. Pershing wants epublishers to throw money at authors and thus use that standard as proof that a publishing company is really a publishing company and that an author is really an author.  Another business model that doesn’t apply to e-books and one that has outlived its usefulness (rather like returns).  This is truly a case of comparing apples to oranges. Okay, so both are fruits, and other than the seeds it is pretty much where the similarity ends. Why does RWA insist on comparing ebooks to print books?

They are not the same and it is about time RWA tried trying to make this square peg fit in their round hole.

Lucynda Storey
www.LucyndaStorey.com

A lot of fiction writers are rejected for simple things.  I’ll be posting here little tidbits to help you improve your chances of receiving an acceptance letter.

If you want to improve your writing you really, really need to nail this skill:

Keep a scene to one point of view, view the action through one set of eyes. (more…)

Character emotions remain some of the trickiest writing there is.  All too often authors fall prey to cliche phrases and dilute their writing by telling us what emotion we are supposed to be experiencing, rather than showing us what the character is going through.

In Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood, authors are provided with a new way of expressing character emotions.  How?  Ms. Hood gives practical exercises drawing upon the author’s memories of experiencing the emotion being discussed.

The book is organized by emotions and then three poor examples are given with an explanation of why they are poor.  The author then follows up with three good examples and explanation.  Finally, she provides the reader with three exercises to write so the reader can create fresh writing for the emotion. (more…)

The Secret Service Agent went on sale this month and is already a bestseller at eReader! Click the banner above to check out the book or my picture below to stop by my official website.

Hey there!  I’m completely excited–Temptation of Asphodel, the third book in my epic fantasy series The Asphodel Cycle, has been released today by Aspen Mountain Press. I was pretty flabbergasted to find this blog entry about Tempation’s release today –http://jpscribble.blogspot.com/

 ”…I should tell you that I am not, generally speaking, a fan of epic fantasy. Summers’ offering, however, is just head and shoulders above the other books I’ve read in the genre. Her characters are complex, fully-realized people (or gods, as the case may be), rather than coming across as something a fanboy might have worked up on a D&D character sheet first …”

 Dang.  I love blushing first thing in the morning.

I’ll be hanging around on Facebook all day for a book release event.  Feel free to drop by my Temptation of Asphodel Release Party and leave a note on my wall there–I’ll be giving away copies of Asphodel books all day! I’ve got an excerpt up and live on my blog and my website in case you want to check those out.

Hope you American folks had a great Thanksgiving. 

The Temptation of Asphodel

Author: Celina Summers
Artist: Renee George

Tamsen has learned to sacrifice everything as she plays the game of the gods but as she nears the end of her quest, everything changes again.  The hunter becomes the hunted, the ally becomes the foe and behind it all lies the hand of a third, unknown god who tries to lure her from her destiny. Can she hold firm against the temptations that are thrown in her path, or will she fall into failure as generations of Elves have done before her? As the rumbling memory of an ancient war settles over the realm of Ansienne, Tamsen’s faith falters. When she is drawn into conflict with immortal enemies, she discovers that the line between obedience and temptation is much narrower than she thought. Temptation can be dangerous, but obedience can kill.

The marvelous Jet Mykles let me know this morning that Giving Thanks has become the #1 Best Seller on the All Romance eBooks Top 10 Best Seller list!

I’m so excited!

You can read more about this story on my website on the Giving Thanks page.

You can buy Giving Thanks from Aspen Mountain Press here!

The Magnificent Men of Munich

LONNIE HEATS UP

BLURB:

Lost in the Austrian Alps, psychologist Lonnie Copley is forced to accept help from a Hell’s Angel wannabe.  She never expected to be trapped with the Aryan god in deserted Castle Flophouse.

Disgusted with cleaning up his client’s dirty lives, attorney Wolfe Deider is in major career throes.  He doesn’t need some insolent woman mucking up his mind, even if she does have a mouth made for kissing.

EXCERPT:

“What the…”  Wolfe ducked as slush spewed against the back of his helmet and ice slithered beneath his collar, along his neck.  He had pulled onto the wide shoulder, to rest after the long day’s drive, staring across the Alps in deep thought, when an approaching vehicle broke the silence he craved.  The crunch of ice and screeching tires ricocheted in his ears.

“ScheiBe.”  Shit.  The car seemed to be spinning out of control as it slid closer to the edge of the mountain.  No one drove at that kind of speed in heavy, wet snow.  The guy drove like a Dummkopf and whatever happened was just what he deserved.

Then the world moved in slow motion, all the action exaggerated.  The car swung left then right, in what seemed to take an hour.  The brakes screeched, metal grinding against metal, before the dilapidated sedan glided across the shoulder.  It coughed, like an old man who smoked too much, and died, its nose too close to the rim.

“Hey, Kamerad.”  He pushed off the old tree trunk, waving his arms to catch the driver’s attention, and fell with all his weight onto one knee.  The sharp pain clouded his mind for only a second before he regained his footing. 

He waved and hollered again, hoping the man would look up.  Then he did; only it was a she, with fear pasted on her face.

He stumbled again then slid closer to the door handle and yanked. 

Locked. 

“Open it.”  The cold air poured into his lungs.  “Open the door,” he yelled again. If the previous time passed in slow motion, her action was like a movie in rewind.  She mouthed a few words.  With a shake of his head, he tapped on the glass and pointed to the lock.  This was getting them no where. 

He jerked on the handle, careful not to rock the car any more than necessary.  She seemed to finally get her senses back and edged her hand to the armrest controls.

The lock clicked and in a quick movement he flung the door open, flipped the key off, then grabbed her.  He yanked with all his strength, but she would not budge.  Damn, she still had on the harness.   

He leaned across to release the seatbelt.  She fought him, flailing, and the car shifted. 

“Hey, Fraulein, do not move.”  She inhaled deep and briefly nodded her head.  “We have to get you out of the car and keep it on the shoulder.  The cows below won’t produce good milk tonight if you squash them.”  Obviously humor was not working, because when she glanced up, her eyes were filled with tears.

He grabbed her arm and pulled.  Ripping cloth and cracking ice echoed in his head.  He hooked his hands under both of her armpits and tugged until he thought he would get a hernia.  The damned steering wheel trapped her knees.  With a grunt and a vigorous yank, she flew out of the car, knocking the wind out of him as he landed ass to frozen ground.

BUY LINK

Sloane Taylor
Sweet as Honey…Hotter than Hell
PHOTO OP! www.aspenmountainpress.com
FRENCH KISS www.eternalpress.ca
www.sloanetaylor.com   www.myspace.com/sloanetaylor

I remember laughing whenever I heard an author complain that they had been asked “Where do you get your ideas?” I was still laughing…until it happened to me. The truth is there is no simple answer to this. Writers get their ideas from anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes something so simple as a phrase or a title can do it. Perhaps that’s why the Del Fantasma series available at Aspen Mountain Press has proved so inspiring. Set around a bar run by a vampire called Cody Warren, the inspiration for each story comes from the title of a drink. The authors currently working with AMP have produced some fabulous stories using just a couple of words as a springboard for their muses. These stories are part of a series but can be equally read individually, although they should perhaps all come with a warning on the cover as they are highly addictive. Read one and I almost guarantee you will want to read another!

“Virgin Special” released last week and is my latest offering for the series. It’s also my first m/m/f novel for AMP as well as my first vampire paranormal. So where does one come up with the idea for a very special kind of virgin?

While holidaying in the Caribbean many years ago, I came across a little cocktail book that I still possess to this day. Wanting to write another book for the ‘Del’ line, I flicked through the pages seeking inspiration, and it definitely found me. Then, as many authors do, I started playing the old ‘what if’ game. What IF my main character was not only heartbroken but a virgin? What IF Cody set him up with two vampires equally heartbroken? In that moment Virgin Special came into being.

I’m afraid that aside from reading my novel, the only Virgin Special I can invite you to try is the cocktail. Here’s the recipe. I have to admit I’ve not tried it and I’m trying to imagine how it tastes, but the book describes it as: “A very pleasant and refreshing summer drink.” If it’s like most things I drank in the Caribbean it’ll taste deceptively fruity or watery, and then it will suddenly knock your socks off!

Virgin Special Cocktail
Take a glassful of fresh raspberries, bruise them a little and pour upon them:
2 glasses of Old Brigand Rum
2 glasses of Brandy
1 glass Redcurrant juice and half glass sweetened lime juice.
Let steep for half an hour, then add 1 glass sherry and some ice.
Shake and serve in 6 cocktail glasses.
Decorate with a cherry.

Ever Fallen for a Virgin?

Fall for one now at Aspen Mountain Press.

Sharon Maria Bidwell
aonia - where the muses live
http://www.sharonbidwell.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/aonia

Verbs are a vital part of the writer’s arsenal.  In fact, you can’t tell a story without them.  Todlers learning to talk have a natural affinity for verbs.  If you listen to a two or three year old speak, you will hear simple sentences containing an identifiable subject and a verb.  Those verbs, I might add, are quite active.  Think about the child who is telling you about something traumatic in their world.  “Doggie bite!”  There is no doubt what that little one is communicating.

As we get older, our sentence constructions get more complex and we add in those words to help sentences make better sense, especially to our ear.  Instead of hearing something like above, we may hear something along the lines of, “The black labrador has a problem with strangers. He tried to bite my foot.” 

Those additions, though, may seduce us into thinking we have an active verb driven story.  The above example isn’t very engaging. As writers you should look to tighten your work, engage your reader, and remove passive writing.  Frequently, one of the ways to make your sentence more action driven is to substitute the linking verb used with a verb depicting action.  Now the sentence might read, “The big, black lab ravaged my foot.” (Remember, these are off-the-cuff!)

How many linking verbs can you replace in a work to make your writing more vivid?  Plenty.  Take this tiny example.  She was depressed.  Was is a linking verb.  It shows depressed is related to she.  How can you replace was?  The blues hit her hard.  Now was has been converted into a verb of action and makes for a more interesting sentence.

Common linking verbs include: is, are, was, were, am, be, been, have, had, seem, felt, and a host more.  You can find lists in middle school, English grammar text books.

There are sentences you need to convey that must have a linking verb or a verb phrase to express the idea you want to get across.  Just beware, there may be a better way of saying writing the same idea that will be of more interest to your reader and will set your writing apart from the scores of others who haven’t conquered a passive voice.