Year: 2011

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    Guest blog: Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Romance Novels …

    89 Comments

    Today, I’m pleased to welcome author and blogger Sarah Wedell from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I’m always surfing over to the blog to see what’s new, and when I saw that Sarah had a new book coming out, I asked her if she’d guest blog. She was nice enough to say yes and agreed to answer a few questions:

    Question: Tell us about your new release, Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Romance Novels.

    Sarah: IT IS SO AWESOME. How’s that? Seriously, I’m so proud of this book, because at its heart, this book is about the romance reading and writing community talking about the genre we love, and how valuable and valid it is in our lives.

    Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Romance Novels celebrates what romance readers already know: that romances can be a road map of what to do (and what not to do) in real life relationships. Instead of giving us (OH NOES) unrealistic expectations of ourselves and our partners and spouses, in reality romances provide models of overcoming conflict, recognizing heroism, and, most of all, being the heroine of your own life.

    Question: What was the inspiration for this book?

    Sarah: I have run an advice column on SBTB for a few years now wherein I use the wisdom of romances to answer people’s letters about their problems. Part of the inspiration for the book comes from that — there’s a great wealth of knowledge about human interaction coded into romances. Other inspiration came from recognizing over the years that the community of women who read and write romance are terribly wise and generous people.

    Question: What do you love most about the romance genre? Any pet peeves?

    Sarah: I love the happy ending, the reassurance that no matter how bad it is, it will all work out. I love how far I’ve traveled and how many people I’ve met within the books I love, and how many other readers I’ve met through discussing how much I love the genre. When we started SBTB, I had no idea there were so many romance readers around the world who were eager to talk with one another.

    As for pet peeves? OH LORDY. My top two: stilted, unrealistic dialogue and plot contrivances that are wooden and unlikely. I don’t want to read a book and say to myself, or to the characters, “OH COME ON NOW.”

    Question: You run a popular romance site called Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Tell us a little about what the site does and what the inspiration for it was.

    Sarah: I do! The site reviews romance, discusses the genre, and helps connect readers with books to read, re-read, and discover again after years apart. The site began when Candy Tan and I “met” online, had a relatively random email conversation and somehow ended up discussing romances – how much we both loved them, how wonderful the best of them were, and how annoying it was that so few people took them seriously. One of us said, “We should start a blog and review them, working the power of our English degrees and our love of cursing,” and the other one said, “Uh, ok!” And Smart Bitches, Trashy Books was born. Really, the inspiration was to discuss everything readers love and despair about the genre — and the site is still going 6-plus years later.

    Question: What do you think are some trends on the romance horizon? What would you like to see more of in romance books? What would you like to see less of?

    Sarah: I think with the many options and opportunities available to authors, more distinct niche sub genres will emerge, because it will be easier for authors to connect directly with those readers who are demonstrably interested in that specific setting or trope or character type. I myself am not picky as far as what I want: I love contemporary and historical romance, and some light paranormal now that I’ve gotten my mental taste buds re-interested in paranormals. I love characters who seem real, who struggle with their attraction or feelings of determination for someone else, and who emerge at the end of the story as better and stronger people.

    Question: What are some of your favorite books and authors?

    Sarah: The books that are falling apart on my bookshelf: Perfect by Judith McNaught; Bitten by Kelley Armstrong; and Born in Ice by Nora Roberts. Oh — and Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens. Among my new favorites: the Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs is something that I can’t remove from my phone or reading device in my purse. I keep re-reading parts of it.

    Question: What’s next for you and Smart Bitches?

    Sarah: Let’s see: more reading time! I always want to connect with new or newly curious romance readers, and those who love the genre and are searching for something new to read. So I’ve restarted the podcast (link one, link two) with Jane Litte from DearAuthor.com. I’m hoping to expand on that in the future. My goal is always to find new books, and new readers of romance to talk to.

    ARC GIVEAWAY

    Thanks so much for being here, Sarah! As part of her guest blog, Sarah is giving away an ARC of Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Romance Novels. To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post talking about a romance you’ve enjoyed, what you like about the romance genre, or some books you are looking forward to.

    The giveaway is open to folks 18 and older. The contest will run through noon, EST, Thursday, Sept. 15, and the winner will be randomly drawn and announced here on the blog on Friday, Sept. 16. Happy commenting!

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    Spider’s Bite e-book now $1.99 …

    6 Comments

    So I have something cool (and economical) to share today: the Spider’s Bite e-book is now available for $1.99 through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online booksellers.

    You read that right — $1.99.

    Spider’s Bite is the first book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. So if you ever wanted to try the series or add it to your e-book collection, now’s the time to do it — on the cheap.

    Normally, the e-book would be $7.99, so why is it now $1.99? Well, my publisher, Pocket Books, thought this would be a nice promotion to lead up to the release of Spider’s Revenge, the fifth book in the series that will be out on Sept. 27.

    I think offering backlist titles at a discount is a smart marketing tool. Money is tight these days, and paying $1.99 for a book is a pretty good bargain. I look at book blogs like Dear Author that do posts about discounted reads to see what’s available, and I’m more likely to take a chance on a new-to-me author if the book is less than $5.

    Plus, I know many people are hesitant to start a series that already has several books in it, but I think the $1.99 price will tempt some folks to check out Gin and the rest of the gang. Fingers crossed anyway.

    I’ve been told that the Spider’s Bite e-book will be $1.99 through Monday, Sept. 19. So go forth and purchase if you wish. Happy downloading and reading! 😉

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    By a Thread cover revealed …

    10 Comments

    Some of you have probably seen this already, but here is the cover for By a Thread, the sixth book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

    I really like the colors on this one. I think the pops of blue will print nicely with the green. Plus, the whole cover image and the colors tie in with the story. I also like the little touches, like the spider on Gin’s tank top. I’ve been very pleased with all the covers in the series, which have all been done by artist Tony Mauro. My thanks goes out to Tony for another excellent cover.

    Fun fact: According to my editor, this is an actual woman/cover model, and they’ve used her on all the Elemental Assassin covers so far.

    Also, here are some other things that will be happening with the Elemental Assassin series in 2012:

    1) By a Thread will be released in March 2012. The on-sale date will be Feb. 28, 2012.

    2) I’ll be getting bookmarks made for By A Thread later this fall, probably after my blog tour for Spider’s Revenge winds down in October, and I have time to work on the bookmarks. I’ll post here on the blog when I have the bookmarks.

    3) Also, By a Thread is up for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Please note that the back cover copy is up at B&N and that it does contain some spoilers for what happens in Spider’s Revenge. So if you don’t like spoilers, don’t look at the cover copy.

    4) The seventh book is tentatively scheduled for an August 2012 release, which means that the on-sale date will be July 31, 2012.

    Those are all the updates I have right now for the Elemental Assassin books. I’ll post more info as it becomes available.

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    And the ARCs go to …

    3 Comments

    And the two randomly chosen winners of the Spider’s Revenge ARCs are:

    Zealith

    Deb@Debbie’s Book Bag

    Congrats! Winners, you have until noon, Wednesday, Sept. 7 to e-mail me your snail mail addresses, or I will have to pick two different winners.

    Thanks to everyone who dropped by and left a comment. I appreciate all the nice words about my books. Also, I got a lot of good reading recommendations and new books and authors to check out. So thanks again! 😉

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    Spider’s Revenge ARC giveaway …

    99 Comments

    I haven’t done a giveaway here on the blog in awhile, so here goes.

    My publisher was nice enough to print some ARCs (advanced reading copies) of Spider’s Revenge, the fifth book in my Elemental Assassin series that’s coming out on Sept. 27.

    I have two ARCs of the book to give away here on the blog.

    The giveaway is open to folks ages 18 and older in the U.S. and Canada. (Sorry, overseas folks, but I am maxed out on my postage budget right now). If you win, I would appreciate it if you would read and review the book on your blog, Facebook, Goodreads, or wherever sometime around the release date.

    All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here on this blog post and tell me what the last good book you read was. The giveaway will run through Friday, Sept. 2. The winners will be chosen randomly and will be announced here on the blog on Monday, Sept. 5.

    Happy commenting!