Well, Mad Madam M here… I should warn Crys’s regular readers that most likely, the following post will disapoint you. Perhaps it won’t, but I want you all to go in with lowered expectations…that and I’m changing the format a little. As those of you who have survived me filling in for Crys will attest…normally I spend the entire time discussing either one of my current pet peeves in the romance genre or I simply gush about men in kilts. Well, this time I have decided to take a more positive angle and instead discuss how much I love the J.D. Robb [...] In Death series. I’m not the biggest Nora Roberts fan - sacriledge I know - not do I usually enjoy futuristic anything - aisde from select Star Trek or old school Star Wars - but I am absolutely in love the the Robb series. Unfortunately, I only know one person who has read the series and so without further ado…here’s a shout out to anyone who has read this fab series. I’m dying to know which is you fav book in the series, who you consider the best recurring character, fav Roarke/Dallas scene. Feel free to add any other thoughts…light up the comment sections. I just want to discuss!
Archive for August, 2006
Alright, I’m squeaking this post in right before I go. I’ll be in California until Monday. I might be able to hop in and post once I reach the fantabulous grandma’s house, but that’s not until Friday night at the earliest.
Until then, wish me luck on my interview and cross your fingers that I do really, really well!
Have fun while I’m gone. And don’t bother to pretend to be good. I know it won’t happen. Just don’t get caught!
Several pieces of news are coming at you today. One, I have an interview later this week and I’m flying out to California to do it, so Thursday and Friday I’ll be away from the computer. I might be able to bribe the Mad Madam M into coming over and playing with you in the sandbox. Some autographed books about men in kilts (and no barnyard animals) should do the trick.
Two, Horatio Hellcat is going to stay with a friend of mine and if he likes it there while I’m gone, he won’t be coming back. This is very sad for me. He’s my first pet since I got all grown up and had a home and responsibilty of my own. The sad fact is, Horatio grew up on a ranch with 8 other cats and he doesn’t care for the indoor living of an apartment cat. He also doesn’t like being an only cat. I came to this realization after I left him with my neighbors and their three cats the last time I left town. He was happy there. He didn’t knock over lamps, shred books or do any of the distructive things he does to my house while I’m at work and he’s alone.
My friend has a bunch of cats and property for him to roam on. I think he’ll be happier there and that’s what I want for him. So, here’s his farewell post.
Alas, poor Horatio. I knew him well.
On the day Full Swing came out, Gena Showalter sent me an email congratulating me on my release and offering to send me a signed copy of her latest book, Playing With Fire. (How freaking awesome is that? I mean, seriously.) This is a book she brought a promo copy of to Nationals and taunted me cruelly when I couldn’t buy it. She’s a sick, sick woman that way. Prolly why I liked her so much.
So, here’s where I brag on her work. This book is freaking awesome! If any of you have read her blog (and if you haven’t you really should), then what you’ll get in this book is a superpowered version of her blog. It’s hilarious.
What I loved most about this book is that, superpowers not withstanding, the heroine Belle is REAL. She’s believable. She gets scared, mad, hurt, etc just as you would expect someone to if they accidentally drank a chemical compound that let them control the weather. Major freak-out time.
And the hero, Rome, is HAWT. I would so do him. In like, a hot second. He says “Get nekked”, I say “Okay.” Even he has real issues, with his family and friends and career. Plus, he hates tighty whities. You’re just gonna have to read the book to find out why.
So while the premise of the story is crazy, over the top fun, the characters are human and that is honestly what sold the story for me.
Yep, I’m already a major Gena Showalter fan, but if I weren’t, this one would have clinched it for me. You really need to go buy this one. Plus, it has the most awesome cover EVER. In this case, you really can judge a book by its cover.
It’s that time of the week again, Novelty Girls day. I know how much you love to see me get all professional and stuff, so you’ll have to go over there.
This week I’m talking about when you feel, as a writer, that you’ve “arrived” in this business. And if you never get published, do you still feel you’ve earned your stripes.
Anyway, go on over and read.
So, today I’m looking at how girlie or not I am. Personally, I don’t think I’m all that girlie. I hate dresses as a general rule. Avoid them like the plague, really. And I love jeans. Love them. Couldn’t live without them. However, I hate yard work and getting sweaty. And the great outdoors aren’t so great. Not without nekked male forest nymphs or something. So, here’s the quiz of the week: How Boyish or Girlish are you?
What can I say, I’m a tomboy.
| You Are 60% Boyish and 40% Girlish |
You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don’t actively fight them. You’re just you. You don’t try to be what people expect you to be. |
Madison Chase, author of Slow Burn (a book with a librarian turned stripper turned writer named CRYSTAL–take out the stripper bit and it’s me, me, me!), interviewed me on her website. Sweet!
Mysteries revealed during this session:
- The origin of my secret drinking fetish
- Horatio Hellcat tell-all
- Three-ways
- The secret life of librarians
- Interspecies erotica
- Pink tweed
You’ll have to go on over to find out more.
The Novelty Girls has a new look over at their blog courtesy of the talents of Loribelle Hunt. Go check it out, she did a spectacular job. I love the new look. I’m not sure if I mentioned who all is involved with TNG, but it’s me, Dayna Hart, Lyric James, Loribelle Hunt, Shelli Stevens, and Sara Dennis. These are some extremely gifted writers and I’m glad they let me play in the big kid sand box.
In other fun and exciting news, I got my first interview in California! I’ll be flying out a week from today and staying for the weekend. I get to see my family for a few days too. Which, lemme tell ya, is friggin’ sweet. I miss them like crazy! I get to see my niece and my little cousins.
However, with the new restrictions on air travel, you know I’m gonna show up for my interview in slept in blue jeans because they lost my luggage and I can’t take my spare stuff on the carry-on because of all the aforementioned restrictions. It’s all about just flying nekked. I have no piercings, so I’m not gonna set of the alarms. Just the day glow white skin might blind the people directing the plane with those little glow sticks. And that’d be bad.
Woooohoooo! Kerin from Two Lips Reviews did my first review for Full Swing last night and it’s good! She liked it, she really liked it! I’m so excited!
Here’s the fun part:
Crystal Jordan provides insight into the ramifications and the impact illness and injury have on an individuals’ psyche. Tyler goes from being a strong, virile, young soldier to a defeated man, forced to use a cane and attend extensive physical therapy. I enjoyed this story because it was well written, intense, and realistic. The emotional attachment between Jill and Tyler was poignant and the love scenes were extremely sexy and hot. I strongly recommend reading Full Swing.
Awwwww! Go here to read the whole review!
Promotion in this business is really hard. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t and that’s hard because you may never know why. Some people do very little promotion and do fairly well, others promo their butts off and don’t sell that well.
For me, I think you’re more likely to get out what you put in. If you spend the time and money it takes to promote yourself and your work, you at least have a better shot of doing well. Books don’t usually sell themselves. Especially e-books because the publishing houses are so small. For e-books, I think it’s all about the legwork. Which means I need to promo more, but it astounds me that some people expect great sales with no work. Do they think the work ends when they sell their book? Ha! That’s an urban writing myth if I ever heard one.
Promo for e-books means getting active on blogs and loops, doing interviews, taking out ads, etc etc. The list goes on. There are a lot of things you can do as a writer to get your name out there, but again…ya gotta work.
Work, work, work. And hopefully that translates in to sales, sales, sales.
