Friday, 27 September 2013

Writer's Block...

Put a gun to my head and make me write.

Please!

I've had writer's block and I'm only six months into my writing career. There are many reasons, from summertime activities to keep the kids amused, to starting another business, from the stress of being broken into...to the crap reviews my second book  has been getting. There are a million and one reasons for me to go through this, but it doesn't matter. There's only one result, I'm not fucking writing.

At least I wasn't. For like a month. Ok, maybe two months. I would start a new project, get five thousand words in and fall off the rails. I'm having somewhat of a writer's midlife crisis as well. I like writing romance/erotica/new adult, but I don't generally read it. I don't know if that is going to impede my journey through this genre, how much it will hurt my writing...does it matter? I read a shit tonne of books, just not romance. My brain doesn't mesh with it, but I seem to like the writing of it.

So where does this leave me in my writing? I don't know, I have a few works in progress that I'm finally hacking away at. I'm finally writing again, over four thousand words today! Yay! I've decided that if I proceed along this writing thing I need to take it more seriously. When I first started writing back in February, I thought of it as a hobby, a distraction. It's more than that though, now that characters are leaking from my head, I can't stop. Even when I was blocked, the stories kept coming.

I started to force myself to write. Daily. I didn't care what it was, I wrote. After a week or so, it started coming back to me. It's flowing again, but still takes more effort than it did than when I started. Effort is good though, it means I'm thinking about it, I'm working at it. This isn't just a hobby anymore, this has become a business.

So here's to writing, and evading writer's block...and getting better with each and every sentence I type!


Wednesday, 18 September 2013

NA Author Spotlight - Dawn Pendleton





     Dawn Pendleton is a new adult author currently residing in New England with her husband and their pup, though she has immediate plans to move to Georgia and promptly become a Southern Belle. When she isn't staring at a blank page, willing the words to jump from her head to the screen, she's usually playing on her iPhone, reading a book, or taking pictures with her fancy camera (which she has no idea how to use).
    Her newest release, the first novella in the Best Friends Forever Series, was an idea that occurred to her back in February, when she first started writing. She wasn't at a place where she could write them, though, so she started her Broken Series, instead. Through this past Summer, the BFF series emerged in her head, taking more space until she finally had to let them out. Liar, Liar, the first episode in the series, released this past Tuesday and is free on all retailers except Amazon.


Liar, Liar





    Hazel is a freshman at Coastal Carolina and looking forward to making new friends. When she meets Roman, she’s head over heels for him. There’s one problem, though: he’s still hung up on Hazel’s roommate, Cheyanne. But Cheyanne has a secret, one that has the potential to ruin her life in college. When Hazel learns the secret, she’s determined to use it against Cheyanne to win over Roman. She never imagines her plan could backfire, leaving her as a pariah among her new circle of friends.

    The BFF series follows the lives of new adults, Hazel, Miranda, Cheyanne, Destiny, Audric, Nolan, Andre, and Roman. Follow their stories as the first season of novellas are released once a week from September to March.







To enter the Rafllecopter, go to each of the following blogs and enter the corresponding code on the rafflecopter.

This is Blog #6 and the code is DAWNJADEN


Blog #2: www.selenalaurence.com
Blog #3: www.StephanieLawton.com
Blog #4: www.lisasanchezromanceauthor.com
Blog #5: www.katerothwrites.blogspot.com
Blog #6: http://jadenwilkes.blogspot.ca/
Blog #7: www.angellawson.com
Blog #8: www.karen-annestewart.com
Blog #9: http://naughtylittlekisses.blogspot.com
Blog #10: http://authoryolandaallen.blogspot.com/
Blog #11: http://dawnaraver.com/
Blog #12: http://tawdrakandle.com
Blog #13: http://midtown-underground.com
Blog #14: http://tyffanickemp.com
Blog #15: Www.maganvernon.com
Blog #16: http://pk-Hrezo.blogspot.com
Blog #17: http://beccaoffthetop.blogspot.com/
Blog #18: http://jenniferlanebooks.blogspot.com
Blog #19: http://ellacolblog.wordpress.com/
Blog #20: www.jcemery.com


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Monday, 16 September 2013

NA Author Spotlight...Hey Hey Hey, it's me!

 
 





Jaden is the pen name of a girl living on the prettiest farm in British Columbia. She shares her space with her husband, her children, and an Irish Wolfhound named Tiberius. She can now be found lurking in the dark corners of the internet looking for artful porn gifs, dirty poems, and places to promo her work.




Sarah Miller is known as a dreamer in her stifling Mennonite community, but she's hiding something from them all. A simple wish to avoid the strictly enforced life path expected of her... early marriage, babies, and work on the farm.

She wants more, so much more. Education, travel, love... sex...

A chance at university hundreds of miles away is too much to pass up, so she follows her best friend Naomi and decides to take her future into her own hands.

She had no idea this decision would change her in ways she never imagined, will the one person she falls in love with hold her back from everything she ever wanted?
 
To enter the Rafflecopter, please go to each of these blogs and enter the corresponding blog code.
 
This is Blog #21 and the code is: JADEN
Blog #17: www.jlfynn.com
 
 
 
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Lions and Tigers and Bitches, Oh My! Mommy Board Drama.



I didn't want to bring this into my author world, but something has happened recently that kinda forced me to. You see I am a mom, I have teen aged boys and a toddler boy. Like most women stuck at home with an infant, I sought community among those who wouldn't roll their eyes or silently judge me as I told the same story for the third time in a row because I was on three hours of sleep cruise control. I found myself on a lovely parenting site, then ended up in a bit of a mixed bag forum. It was called Bargain Hunters, but really was about shooting the shit, advice, complaining, Friday night troll drama, woods head, Irish Spring peen and a whole lotta snark.

It was fun, but controlling, and eventually I was run off. I just can't keep my mouth shut when people are being assholes. It's probably genetic, but at least I'm clever and fun about it.

I found another place, a happy place, somewhere I was proud to call home. Eventually I was run out of there as well, along with my Slutburbia writing partner and brilliant author Virginia Duke. We tried to limp around and find a home but were under constant attack from the second mommy board.

If you haven't had the singular joy that is known as a mommy board, let me fill you in. Essentially you get a mish mash of backgrounds, mostly women, hormones, fatigue, isolation, loneliness, inseurity about your parenting, feelings of inadequacy because you fed your infant mushy peas at 5 months and The Books tell you to wait until 9 months but other Books say give them whole peas but the have to be organic non GMO or you might as well give your precious womb fruit a loaded 9mm to play with oh my god you didn't vaccinate him did you, you monster...yeah, it's a wild ride.

Finally Virginia and I left the parenting site all together, had a merry band of misfits join us and all was right in the world again. Back in February three of us got it in our heads to write novels, Becca Lee Nyx published first, then myself, followed by Virginia. It's fucking amazing what you can get done when you are't consumed with showing some inbred hillbilly mother that she is fucking WRONG for front facing junior's car seat at 9 months GODAMMIT.

We thought we were in the clear. Life was rosy, we gathered momentum with the writing thing and all was forgotten. Until recently, we were brought into it again when we were accused of trolling the fucking pathetic haus fraus we left in the dust. As if. Oh and then Virginia had an abortion, she writes about it in her blog here, and our Facebook group was destroyed by three members. Two I miss, the other was one of those special kinds of stupid who try to defend the use of the N word because she's from the south. I'm Canadian and even I know y'all don't put up with that kind of inbred racism anymore. I mean, openly, but please, keep it to yourselves. It makes you look like a coked out weirdo who don't know who the baby daddy is, yanno

Anyhow, we did get dragged into it again and I've mostly stayed away. Until recently, when I decided to make the move to offer support to a friend in need and found myself back in the shit. According to them I've been busy in the months I've been gone (I mean other than writing TWO novels, writing Slutburbia, starting a bed and breakfast, running another small business, parenting the most active toddler EVER, running my teen boys to every sporting event known to humankind, humping my hubs like a porn star on a regular basis...and working on building an entertaining and informative author presence on social media...for fuck's sake). I must be pulling a Tyler Durden and doing shit while I'm sleeping, because these bitches be fucking cray cray with the accusations they've been bandying about. I've been compared to Satan. Hitler. And most recently a rapist. I shit you not. A fucking rapist. Because I was mean to somebody online once. I am thrilled to tell all y'all that their lives are so pillowy soft that somebody calling them a name on the internet was likened to a brutal, violent, sexual assault. Must be nice to be that sheltered.

So why am I writing this? My author page was found, threats were made to 'expose' me for being a mommy board stalker, they would destroy my career dagnabit.

Uh, ok.

So I ask you dear readers, do you give a shit what I did to somebody on a mommy board over a year ago? Do you care that I called them a mean name and made them question their worth as a human being?

Yeah, I didn't think so. As long as I keep writing the smut and bringing my delicious characters to life and sharing them with you all, I know you don't give two shits.

So there you go mommy board bullies, suck on that for a while. Who are you going to "out" me to? What damage are you going to cause in my writing career with screen shots from some conversation I had with a bat shit crazy mommy a year ago? Nobody and none.

Most importantly, when are you going to move the fuck on and get the fuck over it? How about you start right about...let's coordinate our watches...five, four, three, two, one...and GO!

Now leave me the fuck alone, I've got a book to finish.

Thursday, 12 September 2013

NA Author Spotlight - Dawna Raver

 
 
 
Dawna Raver is an author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Color Wielders, book one of the Heirs of the Magykal Realm series, is her debut novel. When she's not spending tim ein her fantasy world, Dawn loves football, reading, and pretending she's a top chef in the kitchen. Oh, and fawning over her dogs and husband, sometimes in that order.
    Behind the Faerying Mysts, hidden from Mortal eyes, is a land where gods and creatures of myth and legend dwell. And in the Mortal Realm, their Princess is hidden away.
 
   
    Quinn Sinclair lives an ordinary life with her less-than-loving mother in Conifer, Colorado, clueless of her true nature. On the night of her bithday, a staggering betrayal sends her life spinning out-of-control. As she struggles to pick up the pieces, a vision of a man with haunting tourmaline-blue eyes begs her for help, and she is transported into a Magykal battle-forever changing her life. 

    Arik Morgaine - Demigod bad boy and outcast of the Magykal Realm - tried to avoid contact with Princess Quinn for eighteen years, not wanting to make good on an old threat. But the fates have other plans. Arik can no longer deny his growing desire for Quinn, or the need to protect her from those wanting to control her burgeoning powers.

    Can the two of them come together and save the Magykal Realm from being destroyed by the Darkest of Magyks?
 
 
    To enter the rafflecopter giveaway, go to each blog and enter the special code from each blog into the correct blog space on the Rafflecopter.
 
This is Blog #6 and the code is DAWNAJADEN
 
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Tuesday, 10 September 2013

NA Author Spotlight - Kate Roth








    Kate Roth's debut novel, new adult romance The Low Notes, was released by Rebel Ink Press in May 2012 and landed her on RIP's Best of 2012 (the publisher's best-sellers list). Her second novel, new adult paranormal romance, Reckless Radiance, has been contracted for publication by RIP and will be released in September 2013. And Kate is hard at work on her third novel, Natural Harmony, another musically themed romance!
    She is inspired by music, film, art, and of course, other authors as well as the wealth of stories she has heard through her years as a professional hair stylist.
    She writes romance in the New Adult, Young Adult, Contemporary and Paranormal genres. Kate is a small business owner and lives in Indiana with her husband, Adam, and their dog, Sampson.





The Low Notes:
   When a chance meeting between high school teacher Kevin Reed and singer Nina Jordan ignites an instant spark, they must decide if it's more important to follow your heart or follow the rules.
    After caring for his dying father, Kevin Reed returns to his hometown of Wexley Falls, bereaved, unemployed and exhausted at the thought of starting a new life. After a failed blind date, Kevin meets young singer, Nina Jordan, who takes his breath away with the sound of her voice. The connection is instantaneous and mutual on their first date, but both are crestfallen when they discover, to their horror, Nina is Kevin's student at the local high school.
    Deciphering between notions of love and lust, fate and coincidence, Kevin and Nina find themselves unable to turn their backs on what they can't deny in a once in a lifetime feeling. Told from both perspectives, The Low Notes explores a love that feels right even though it seems wrong.



To enter the rafflecopter giveaway, go to each blog and enter the special code from each blog into the correct blog space on the Rafflecopter.

This is Blog #21 and the code is KATEJADEN
Blog #1: www.dawnpendleton.com
Blog #2: www.StephanieLawton.com
Blog #3: www.jadeeby.com
Blog #4: http://lisaswallow.net
Blog #5: http://maravalderran.blogspot.com
Blog #6: http://www.lgcastillo.com
Blog #7: http://sophielira.wordpress.com/
Blog #8: http://naughtylittlekisses.blogspot.com
Blog #9: http://danielelanzarotta.blogspot.com/
Blog #10: http://authoryolandaallen.blogspot.com/
Blog #11: http://dawnaraver.com/
Blog #12: http://tawdrakandle.com
Blog #13: http://midtown-underground.com
Blog #14: http://tyffanickemp.com
Blog #15: www.authorstiffanyandashley.com
Blog #16: www.KristieCook.com
Blog #17: www.jlfynn.com
Blog #18: www.nancystraight.com
Blog #19: www.lisasanchezromanceauthor.com
Blog #20: www.adriannejames.com
Blog #21: http://jadenwilkes.blogspot.ca/





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Tuesday, 3 September 2013

NA Author Spotlight - Jade Eby





Once upon a time, there was a little girl who fell in love with books. Then she grew up to write her own.


Jade has participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) six times and enjoys copious amounts of coffee. When she's not writing, she enjoys trashy reality T.V. and reading everything she can get her hands on.

Mommy to two dogs and two naughty kitties, she feels like she might be on her way to having a zoo. You can find her on almost every social networking site that aids in her procrastination.




The Right Kind of Wrong, by author Jade Eby

Nothing stays hidden forever.

Kara Pierce has held onto the same dream since she was a little girl: to be the next Katie Couric.

Vince Gage, a budding filmmaker whose I-don't-give-a-shit attitude cancels out his char,. almost ruined it for her once, and now he's back, threatening to do it again.

When the two of them are paired together for a college competition with a $20,000 prize, the only thing they agree on is winning.

They return to Iowa where Kara grew up to research her grandfather's service in World War II, instead they find themselves in the middle of a family scandal kept quiet for far too long.

As Kara and Vince investigate the scandal deeper, they realize the price of uncovering the truth is so much more than they bargained for.


WIN a signed copy!!

To enter the giveaway, please enter the following code in the correct space (Blog #6) on the Rafflecopter: JADEJADEN

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