RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
//A great sci-fi movie you’ve never heard of (at least, I hadn’t), why I’m shipping Alex and Paul on The Morning Show, ROGUE FAMILIAR audiobook is now wide, a fabulous giveaway, & giving my books as gifts.
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Exciting day today! For today only, 200 of the most amazing books in Fantasy Romance, Gaslamp Romance, Monster Romance, and Paranormal Romance are FREE! Go load up your eReaders by clicking here https://farofeb.com/freebooks/ Below are some samples of the books available, including my own DARK WIZARD.
This week at the SFF Seven we’re talking about what makes readers invested in a story. It’s an interesting question, really, and the subject of much debate. I think every author would love to know the “magic formula” for making this happen in every book. Sometimes, though, it can be a real surprise what readers latch onto. There’s always an element of unpredictability there that’s part of the joy of creating and storytelling. (Which is one reason why I believe Artificial Intelligence (AI) will never supplant human creativity, but that’s another discussion.)
So, my thoughts on ways to engage readers and entice them into being engaged in a story?
*Of course, none of this is actually simple. It takes craft, talent, and lots and lots of practice. Read widely. Re-read your favorites. Observe how other authors accomplish this and emulate shamelessly!
//About the evolution of recognizing oneself as a writer, claiming the name, and other steps newbies can take to move from the furtive phase of writing to feeling confident in that skin. Also, it’s FaRoFeb!
//THE FATE OF THE TALA is out in the world!! You can order it on all the retailers. If you preordered (or still want to order!) a signed print copy, I’ll be sending those out by February 14. (I should have them by February 13, so it could happen!) A nice Valentine for us all. Once I send those, I’ll get the print versions uploaded on the retailers, too.
Also, as a super fun thing – if you subscribe to Pikko’s House Book Lovers Box this month, a limited number of subscribers will get the first book that started it all, THE MARK OF THE TALA, for free!!
The exciting conclusion of the story begun in The Mark of the Tala
An Uneasy Marriage,
An Unholy Alliance.
The tales tell of three sisters, daughters of the high king. The eldest, a valiant warrior-woman, conquered her inner demons to become the high queen. The youngest, and most beautiful outlived her Prince Charming and found a strength beyond surface loveliness.
And the other one, Andi? The introverted, awkward middle princess is now the Sorceress Queen, Andromeda—and she stands at the precipice of a devastating war.
As the undead powers of Deyrr gather their forces, their High Priestess focuses on Andi, undermining her at every turn. At the magical barrier that protects the Thirteen Kingdoms from annihilation, the massive Dasnarian navy assembles, ready to pounce the moment Andi’s strength fails. And, though her sisters and friends gather around her, Andi finds that her husband, Rayfe, plagued with fears over her pregnancy, has withdrawn, growing ever more distant.
Fighting battles on too many fronts, Andi can’t afford to weaken, as she’s all that stands between all that’s good in the world and purest evil.
For Andi, the time to grow into her true power has come. . .
//THE FATE OF THE TALA is out in the world!! You can order it on all the retailers. If you preordered (or still want to order!) a signed print copy, I’ll be sending those out by February 14. (I should have them by February 13, so it could happen!) A nice Valentine for us all. Once I send those, I’ll get the print versions uploaded on the retailers, too.
Also, as a super fun thing – if you subscribe to Pikko’s House Book Lovers Box this month, a limited number of subscribers will get the first book that started it all, THE MARK OF THE TALA, for free!!
The exciting conclusion of the story begun in The Mark of the Tala
An Uneasy Marriage,
An Unholy Alliance.
The tales tell of three sisters, daughters of the high king. The eldest, a valiant warrior-woman, conquered her inner demons to become the high queen. The youngest, and most beautiful outlived her Prince Charming and found a strength beyond surface loveliness.
And the other one, Andi? The introverted, awkward middle princess is now the Sorceress Queen, Andromeda—and she stands at the precipice of a devastating war.
As the undead powers of Deyrr gather their forces, their High Priestess focuses on Andi, undermining her at every turn. At the magical barrier that protects the Thirteen Kingdoms from annihilation, the massive Dasnarian navy assembles, ready to pounce the moment Andi’s strength fails. And, though her sisters and friends gather around her, Andi finds that her husband, Rayfe, plagued with fears over her pregnancy, has withdrawn, growing ever more distant.
Fighting battles on too many fronts, Andi can’t afford to weaken, as she’s all that stands between all that’s good in the world and purest evil.
For Andi, the time to grow into her true power has come. . .
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I’m supposed to post about a favorite holiday cocktail – okay, I was supposed to do it yesterday – but I’m sharing this fantastic giveaway instead. And drinking the holiday cocktails!
Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday, whatever and however you celebrate!
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I’m over at Here Be Magic, talking about falling dominoes and hosting a little giveaway. Stop on by!
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So much happening all at once!
~dances around in the downpour~
First of all, yesterday I *FINALLY* got to share that THE TALON OF THE HAWK won Best Fantasy Romance of 2015 in the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Awards!!! I’ve known for about seven weeks, but was allowed to share the great good news only with family and friends. One of the first people I told was sister nominee Grace Draven, whose amazing book RADIANCE I thought was sure to win. I have to tell you – I think she was more excited than I was! With competition like C.S. Pacat, Sharon Shinn and Robin Owens, the odds were scary! I’m really just beyond thrilled. The outpouring of love and congratulations has floored me.
Which leads to the next thing: In a serendipitous coincidence, the hero of TALON, everyone’s favorite mercenary Harlan is in Kensington’s Ultimate Hero Showdown today. You can vote here as often as you like, until 11:59 PM (EDT).
Also, SF Signal did a really terrific interview with me – excellent questions – and you can read that here.
Finally, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, I’ve been participating in a Lucky in Love giveaway with four of my sister writers in the Land of Enchantment Romance Authors (LERA) chapter here in New Mexico. Today you can enter to win a digital copy of the highly anticipated upcoming erotic anthology, THE DEVIL’S DOORBELL.
Be one of the first to read it! Enter here to win one of three copies and to enter the grand prize giveaway of a brand new, loaded Kindle Voyager!
A woman’s pleasure is a dangerous thing. A primal appetite that, once awakened, can never be sated. A secret that gives power to those who know it. A magic that, once unleashed, can never be contained.
Some say the clitoris is the devil’s doorbell, set to summon him forth at the merest touch…
It’s time to ring the bell.
Here are seven tales of sexual empowerment and erotic defiance, featuring the hottest storytellers of erotic fiction.
Anne Calhoun
Christine d’Abo
Delphine Dryden
Megan Hart
Jeffe Kennedy
Megan Mulry
M. O’Keefe
Whew! That’s a lot of dancing!
//Last week saw the release of DARK SECRETS: A PARANORMAL NOIR ANTHOLOGY. What – you didn’t know “paranormal noir” was a thing?
IT IS NOW!
I finally got a chance to read the stories by my sister contributors and it’s really a cool collection of stories. We really had only those two elements in common – something paranormal and noir shading – but the overall feel is remarkably consistent. At any rate, there’s a Goodreads giveaway going on for it, if you’d like to win a copy. But it’s only .99 cents, so quite the bargain if you choose to buy.
I’m over at Word Whores, talking about intelligences crossing into our minds and hijacking our stories.
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Guess what’s out today?? YES! The fourth book in Carolyn Crane’s Associates series, BEHIND THE MASK.
You guys, this story is so super hot, twisty and amazing.
You can take that with a grain of salt, as it’s no secret that Carolyn is my CP (critique partner) and bestie. However, that means two things – I read this story first, before ANY of you could (ha ha ha!) and I’m the one who egged her on to do more, go farther, give me that hot steamy dark smexy.
Let me set the scene. Carolyn was here in Santa Fe, visiting me last February. We went out walking, to see some art in the galleries, do a bit of boutique shopping. Then we settled into the bar at Inn at Loretto, which is one of my favorite bars in Santa Fe. We scored a table by the fireplace, drank wine, and I fed her notes from my Kindle about sex, death and other fabulously intense elements.
Sometimes I wonder what people at the other tables nearby were thinking…
Now, I’m not sure what Carolyn did with this and others of my suggestions, as I haven’t read her final version. However, I can’t wait to read it again and see! She’s such a brilliant writer and works magic in revisions. The story blew me away in rough draft – it might kill me in its final form. Which it sounds like it’s doing to others, like in this review at That’s What I’m Talking About.
At any rate, I’m giving away a digital copy in the format of choice to a random commenter! Tell me what intrigues you about this story by midnight US Eastern Time on May 21 and I’ll choose a winner. The official blurb is below.
When her long lost sister – a prostitute – is won in a card game by a brutal drug cartel, Zelda knows what she has to do: take her place. Save her. Focus on infiltrating the shadowy group on behalf of the Associates, and try not to think about why she left the spying game years ago. She’s slept with dangerous criminals before; she can do it again.
Hugo Martinez is one of South America’s most lethal and wanted men, a legendary mercenary living on a windswept mountain. Even at the height of the war he wasn’t in the habit of taking women captive, but the American whore has seen his face. And he and the orphan boy need a cook. He shouldn’t want this woman, but there’s something so unusual about her…
Little by little, Zelda finds herself falling for her captor…but is he the killer she’s been hunting all these years?
