Crystal Jordan :: Blog

So, today is the official day. Sexy Beast V starts shipping from Amazon today and should be in bookstores this week. I want to see people with pictures of it. I’m going to have to hunt up a copy at my local Barnes & Noble and make the Persnickety Hooch pose with it. Maybe I can even get her to do a little dance. Stay tuned for that.

And you can also get it from Barnes & Noble, AND for those of you up in the great white Canadian north, it’s shipping from Chapters.ca too!

Meanwhile, Harmonic Threads did a book trailer for me that encompasses not only “In Ice,” the novella in Sexy Beast V, but also the follow up novellas in Carnal Desires, which releases in December. Check it out!

So, here it is! I got my cover and release date for my Ellora’s Cave story, Black Opals. It’ll be out October 24th!

Here’s the blurb:

Lorna Malone is having a day from hell. She had a one night stand with her best friend, SWAT officer Tyrone Forrester, and had to sneak out before he woke up. She’s an advertising executive and her wild night is making her run late to a photo shoot for her biggest client—Carraway Jewelers. On the way she stops at a gas station and manages to lock her keys—and a small fortune in black opal and diamond necklaces—in her car. Since there’s no way she can let the car out of her sight, and with her Triple A running late, she has to call Tyrone to come Slim Jim her door.

Tyrone is furious when he finds Lorna left him after their amazing night together. He’s wanted her for years, but he got burned in his last relationship. His ex couldn’t handle his dangerous job, so now he doesn’t do serious, he doesn’t do permanent, and he doesn’t play for keeps. But with Lorna, one taste is all it takes to convince him that he’s met his match—if he can help her see that her luscious curves make her desirable.

While he’s willing to rescue her, it comes with a price. And he’s going to make sure she pays up.

Oh holy… I … um …

It’s shipping from Barnes & Noble. Not Amazon yet. But people can buy it. And read it.

Here.

I’m over at the Novelty Girls talking about fear and the conversation I had with my agent when she called to tell me Kensington just offered me another 3 book deal.

So, yay! New books are forthcoming. I’m really excited!

Well, if you read the title of this post, you probably sensed that I’m a woman on the edge. And, man, are you so right!

A few weeks ago, I had a telephone interview with a library in northern California. I wasn’t sure how it went…but they called while I was at Nationals to schedule a follow-up interview and they’re flying me out on Thursday and Friday for an all day interview Friday, plus dinner the night before.

Also while at Nationals, I got an email from a library in southern California saying they wanted a telephone interview. So, during the insanity that was RWA, I had an interview. I was pretty spastic and very sure I’d never hear back from them. Well, they contacted me last week to set up an in-person fly-out interview, too. Which means next weekend (going a bit early to scope out the area and hang with So. Cali friends) and the 25 & 26th, I’ll be at that interview.

While it’s good that these places are interested in me, I’m also trying to prep for the beginning of the semester here (because I have to be ready if neither offer or I don’t like either of them), plus writing the three proposals my agent wants, plus writing another Spice Brief submission, plus getting ready for my first NY release on the 26th (SEXY BEAST is coming! Oh my God, hold me!!), plus having to schedule all these travel plans, plus prepping for the actual all freaking day interviews that academia requires.

I’m a little busy right now.

Not specific personal experiences. Please, for the love of all that’s holy.

What I want to talk about is sex in writing. Everyone talks about how the market is heating up, no matter what level you currently write at. They also say there’s no market for the sweeter romance anymore.

Perhaps. But maybe the sweeter stuff is just called “Women’s Fiction” now instead of romance.

I’m in a fairly nice place with my writing. I write anything from sensual to flat-out filthy, so even if the market tones down some, I’m good…and if it continues to heat up, I’m also fine.

But what does this mean for the genre as a whole? What does this do to writers who aren’t comfortable writing the hawtness?

No, really. I don’t want to have the discussion of “get with the program or start writing inspy/women’s fiction, sweet romance people!”

I mean, how many times have people looked at my work or the lines that I write for and said, “Oh, that’s just porn with an HEA. It’s not even really romance. In fact, it’s not even really erotic romance. Brava is erotic romance, Aphrodisia is sex with a little chatting between orgasms and then an HEA slapped on the end.”

Yeah, I’ve heard it. Yeah, it’s rude. Yeah, I was offended. But people are entitled to their opinions, so I didn’t bother with more than a cursory, “I disagree…I do write romance, and I would never write porn, thank-you-very-much.” The actual internal diatribe will never see the light of day.

However. I imagine people at the other end of the spectrum, who write sweet romance, and are now being told it’s not romance any more, it’s women’s fiction, are just as unhappy. People at each end are getting kicked out of the genre. What does that say about the future of the genre? Is it big enough to include the whole spectrum? Do we think it will continue to heat up, or will we see a backlash into the sweeter stuff?

Okay, a completely lame and pointless post to point out that my amazing web designer, Frauke of Croco Designs (who also does my bookmarks, business cards, myspace layout, and anything pretty with my name on it because I am completely visually retarded), has hooked me up with a ton of spiffy new smilies for you to click on when you make comments.

That is all. Carry on!

While Jennifer Leeland is on vacation, I hijakced her blog and did evil things with it. Come enjoy her pain and suffering!

Schadenfreude lives!

Someone asked me what my name was today and I swear I almost said Crystal Jordan. Then when I was typing in my username to my personal email account, I typed in crystal.jordan

Um, yeah.

Sorry to burst your bubble if you thought it was, but Crystal Jordan is not my real name. I’m protecting my family’s innocence (or at least their rep at the local holy roller’s convention) by taking on a pseudonym.

So, I wanted to talk about the weirdness of it all being a person pretending to be a writer pretending to be a person (if you don’t know where that rhythm of words comes from, you must go watch Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria)

We have a delicate balance to strike as writers. Especially when we get to the point where we’re doing book signings. Since my first print book comes out in August, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. It’ll be something of a public “outting” of my little secret. It only takes one person who knows me in real life to walk into a bookstore I’m signing in to see my pen name and poof, there goes that secret. Librarians are all about information sharing (i.e. total gossip-whores), so that would be one wildfire of a rumor around the library the next day.

Does that make me paranoid? A little, yeah.

Plus, Crystal Jordan is a bit more wicked and gregarious than the “real” Crystal–it’s still me, but with all the politeness filters blown off. So if any of my colleagues saw me in that situation it might shock the crap out of them. Of course, part of me thinks that might be fun, but the other part is a little horrified the people who know me as a nice, staid librarian might get to see me walking on my wild side. Not exactly the mental image I want them to have when we’re talking about me getting tenure at the university…or while I’m being the leader/enforcer during a meeting. I have a feeling it might lower their respect for me some, and on a lot of levels that upsets me. It’s a bad, bad thing.

So, how do I find that balance? I have to do book signings, I have to promo my work, but the thought of people giving me the “I know what you do on the weekends, you dirty wench” look is rather daunting.

You know, these are the things they never tell you you’ll have to deal with when you finally sell to New York and have that shining-awesome print book in your hot little hands.

I’m blogging about book trailers over at the Samhain Blog today.

Come visit!

http://samhainpublishing.com/blog