Monday, February 28, 2011

Quick Update

It's Monday! What better day to post an update and let you know what I'm doing.

I just finished up a couple of short stories. They were so fun to write, and now that they've been submitted, I play the waiting game. One was a cool alternate China Steampunk thing, and the other was a bloody werewolf horror. Wish me luck!

Right now though, I have to finish a final read-through of my romantic fantasy, before I finally press send and get it out to a few people. Then I pray while I get back to work on my contemporary partial.

That should take me all week (I know, I'm so slow!) but THEN I'm going to be starting on Book 2 of my angel series for Carina Press. I really hope everyone ends up liking these stories as much as I do (excerpt coming soon, I hope).

Gabe and Amelia from book 1 feel so real to me, and their trials ripped my heart out. It was devastating to be finished with their story and have to leave them behind. But of course, Cass is going to be a challenge and I'll need to focus on him. He's skirting the edge of total evil and I'm not even sure yet if he'll make it.

So that's me for now!

What's everyone else working on these days?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

You Can't Do That

I'm pumped to have Inez on the blog today because I just got her book at iBooks, and I've been reading it on TheCoolGadget. This is a story you can't miss. Sexy and deeply emotional. I am loving every minute of it!

Welcome Inez Kelley!

You know, I hate rules. I do. I’ve always hated them. I REALLY hate them in my own stories. When I sit down to write, I write what I see, what comes to my head. When someone comes along and says “you can’t do that in a romance”, the hair on my neck raises.

Says who?

After some hem-hawing and stuttering, the naysayer will spit out “Readers. They don’ t like *insert whatever rule I broke*.

Hmmm…

Okay, I used to skip school because I could. I never did a lick of homework in High School. I stopped drinking beer when I was 21 because, well, by then it was no big deal. It was legal. Rules and me have never been best buds, ya know?

I thought about those naysayers and then did my own thing any way. *shrug* It seems I am always breaking some unwritten but iron-clad RULE OF ROMANCE. Strangely, I never know these rules until after I break them.

For example: RULE: You can kill the villain but, for God’s sake, don’t kill the dog.

Oops. Sorry.

RULE: You can’t kill your hero and heroine, either.

Oops again.

RULE: Romance heroes NEVER call the heroine a f-ing B!tch.

Uhm… oops?

RULE: Heroes never cry.

ROFLMAO… seriously?

RULE: Love fixes all the problems in the world.

Say what? Not in my world.

RULE: The heroine is never physically stronger than the hero.

*shifty eyes* NEXT!!

RULE: Ex-wives/husbands are always evil or bad people

Uh-oh

RULE: The heroine should never tell the hero he need a shower first if he wants to get ‘busy’ with her.

O.o ……

Rules shmules. If it makes a believable story, I’m writing it.

In my latest book SWEET AS SIN, I just listened to my characters and wrote their story. It isn’t always pretty and they don’t follow the rules. John is one messed-up dude and Livvy doesn’t understand the words “Back Off”. These two are explosive together. Sometimes it hurts to watch them hurt each other. Love isn’t always sweet. Sometimes it burns like sin.

*I* have one rule of romance. Anything goes as long as at the end, the main characters get a Happily Ever After and the reader walks away feeling like they lived the story. PERIOD. So that’s the only thing I promise in my books.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a hero about to slip some drugs into a heroine’s drink. Off I go to break more rules.

SWEET AS SIN

She’s made for sin. Sin is something he knows intimately.

John Murphy is tormented by nightmares. A bestselling young-adult author, he writes the ultimate fantasy: stories where good always triumphs. He knows better. His past has shown him the worst in people—and in himself. When he moves next door to the sexy, vibrant Livvy—a woman completely unlike his usual one-night stands—he's driven to explore every curve of her delicious body.

Pastry chef Livvy knows that giving in to the temptation that is John Murphy won't lead to anything permanent, but she deserves a passionate summer fling. John discovers she's as sweet as the confections she bakes while Livvy slowly unravels his secrets. But what will happen when she uncovers them all?

Buy Sweet as Sin at Carina Press, AMZ, ARe, BoB or B&N

Inez Kelley is a multi-published author of various romance genres. You can visit her at her website http://inezkelley.com/ Follow Inez on twitter at @Inez_Kelley or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/inez.kelley

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Cover HOTness!!

This is the "front" cover for the Agony/Ecstasy anthology edited by Jane Litte (Dear Author), being released late-2011.



And this is the "back" cover for the same anthology. YAY -- TWO covers for the same book, LOL!!



My story CAGED is but one of the 21 amazing stories that will be featured!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Switching Hats

I'm talking a little more about my foray into writing horror on the Dark Walk today. Come join me there!

Monday, February 07, 2011

Another Project Down!



(By Rodrigo Ferrarezi (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)


YES! I've finished another project. So far 2011 has been productive, and I am liking it!

I've already completed two short stories and finished the first round of edits on FALLING HARD, my 2011 Carina Press release. (The next round just arrived in my inbox this weekend, so there is still work to be done!)

This last project, however, was interesting. A distinct shift away from my usual fare--since there is not a kiss, lick, or even a longing look to be found. It's the story of a gentle, civilized female werewolf taken from her home and plucked down in the middle of a dangerous game where the one left standing at the end is the only one coming out alive.

It's for a horror anthology that I heard about and an idea came to me. After that, I couldn't NOT write it.

I'm not sure if I'll write more of these really dark stories, but it was definitely good to stretch the creative juices, and I think it turned out really well. Hopefully, I'll be able to celebrate its sale soon! Cross your fingers and wish me luck. :)

What has everyone been up to this winter?