LET’S BUCK TO CURE CHILDHOOD DIABETES
Each year NY Times best selling author Brenda Novak hosts an online auction to benefit Diabetes Research. This year my donation is the Let’s Buck ballcap I personally had signed by the PBR riders at the Built Ford Tough Series Mohegan Sun Invitational in October 2010, along with a signed copy of UNRIDDEN (Studs in Spurs, Book 1) and winner’s choice of a canvas “I Heart Cowboys” or “I Heart Bull Riders” totebag.
Now that the excitement of New Years has died down, what’s up with me the rest of this month? A LOT! Let’s go in order I guess…for simplicity sake.
January 5th, Wednesday night, I’ll be using my powers for good instead of evil to help raise funds and awareness for the Amyloidosis Foundation. This is a little-known disease, considered a “cousin” of blood cancers, which has affected someone very close to me. We’re holding an event the 5th from 6 – 10 PM at Teddy’s located in the Holiday Inn in Mount Kisco, NY and yours truly will be stepping behind the bar as guest bartender for the evening. There’s no cover charge but there will be some rocking karaoke courtesy of Big Rich Karaoke (of Montuak, Long Island fame) and your Ciro’s Idol winner Donna DeAngelis. All tips and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Foundation. Come one, come all, it’s open to everyone. No invite, no reservation necessary. Come for an hour or stay for the night. Come just to see if I remember how to mix a drink from my old days behind the bar. Come to see how many tips I, and our friend Whitney, are able to rake in for this worthy cause.
January 7th, Friday, will find me at Madison Square Garden for the opening night of the PBR 2011 season! I’ll be back in NYC again for the Sunday event (Jan 9th) as well and I’m looking forward to hooking up with all the Makin’ 8 maniacs I’ve come to know and love on Twitter who’ll be in town for the events. If you’re going to be there, try and find us! Chances are I’ll have some cowboy swag to hand out.
ALL MONTH I’ll be over at the Coffee Time Romance Forums hosting CoffeeWrite. This is kind of a writing round robin. I write the beginning of a story, then it’s up to you all to write the rest, one paragraph at a time. You can post up to once per day or just once during the month if you want, but at the end of the month, I’ll be choosing the best contribution and awarding a prize. It officially starts January 5th HERE and is open to readers, published authors, aspiring authors, or anyone who wants to come over and have fun with us.
The month of January also finds me as the featured author at The Romance Reviews–Erotic. Hop over and read the in-depth interview where I spill never-before-told secrets behind the writing of BUCKED (Studs in Spurs, Book 2). AND of course, there’s a contest. The contest rules are at the bottom of the interview HERE.
Finally (phew) I’ll be at a group signing with my favorite peeps at the Borders Books in Middletown, NY at the Galleria at Crystal Run on January 29th from 2 – 5 pm. Stop by for swag and a chat, and maybe a book or two.
That’s it, that’s all I got for now. There is a super secret announcement that I’m not allowed to make just yet, but it involved that hot cowboy menage short story I’ve been talking about on Twitter for the past two weeks. More to come…
Cat
Sunday was the third and final day of my PBR weekend in Uncasville, CT. The day started earlier than Friday and Saturday, but it was no less eventful. I arrived at the Rider Relief Fund booth at noon to help sell raffle tickets and brought with me the items I’m donating to be auctioned off in Vegas to help raise money to aid injured bull riders. It was pretty much the same items I donated to the Brenda Novak Juvenile Diabetes Auction, and to the Authors After Dark auction to help the animal shelter–basically a custom printed “I Heart Cowboys” canvas tote bag, a “Let’s Buck” baseball hat, bumper sticker, fridge magnet, journal and pen, a cowboy boot charm bookmark, a Cowboy Corn Salad Recipe Card, and a signed print copy of Unridden (Studs in Spurs, Book 1).
I told the women running the auction how romance readers usually take the canvas bag and get it signed by their favorite authors, and how it would probably go for a lot more if some of the riders signed it. She took the whole thing downstairs to some mysterious PBR room and the next thing I know, she’s back telling me that Flint, one of the bull fighters who doubles as an entertainer/announcer, is reading passages from Unridden aloud to everyone in the room, and someone else wants to buy a copy. Sooo long story short, I had my box of author copies in the car and ended up selling 5, which is about what I sell at a good book signing at a Borders or Barnes and Noble after it’s been planned in advance and advertised. Though I can only imagine what Flint was reading aloud–I’m just gonna go ahead and assume it was the dirty parts because men have the uncanny ability to be able to flip immediately to those–I am a little concerned about what the people listening were thinking. There is also the concern that I wrote that book probably 2 years ago, when I was still learning about the sport and there is a good chance the pros will find inconsistencies in it, either things I changed because I needed to for my plot line, or things I just plain messed up. But so it goes in writing. Nothing I can do about it now. In the meantime I hope they keep in mind I write to entertain readers but a side benefit is that it exposes romance readers to the sport. If one more person discovers the sport and becomes a bull riding fan because of reading my book, it can only be a win-win for everyone.
So after the eventful prelude to my afternoon, the bull riding championship round did not disappoint either. From having one rider hanging on the fence right in front of us to avoid the bull, to watching the heart-stopping moment another was knocked out cold and had the paramedics scrambling until he hopped up and walked out under his own power, it did not disappoint. Our seats were once again one row back from the dirt and almost directly behind one of the judges.
THEN after it was all over, I got brave and stood along the rail with a few other fans and had the bull riders sign one of my baseball hats. Unlike the person next to me who felt they should critique each and every rider’s performance because apparently they know so much, I simply said thank you and was grateful to the ones that took the time to come out and meet us, which they are not required to do. And it was no hardship to get up close and personal with them. Yeah, they are all painfully young compared to me but phew…are they hot! Dirty jeans and all.
Then it was back home where I logged into my email and found the next big surprise–a fellow author saw my book in print on a shelf in Barnes & Noble. 2 copies! It doesn’t seem like much but it’s a huge deal for someone at my level to get unsolicited shelf space at a big chain bookstore. I’ve had 2 dreams in my career kind of come true so far. The first was that I wanted to walk through an airport and see someone reading my book and my Army consultant Sean saw that exact thing last year on his way from his garrison in Germany to leadership training at Fort Benning, GA. The second was to walk into a bookstore (one that I didn’t arrange a signing at and ask–or beg–the manager to order in my books) and see my books on a shelf and that is what my author friend Stephanie Julian found. Though both of these things have happened, the experiences have been second hand, but it is a step in the right direction and I couldn’t be happier!
Are you in the New York Tri-state area? Wanna meet me? Are you up for a night of fun?
Then have I got an event for you!
WHEN: September 6, 7 PM
WHAT: Live Reading from UNRIDDEN (Studs in Spurs, Book 1) by Cat at Lady Jane’s Salon (NYC’s first romance reading series)
WHERE: Madam X, 94 W Houston Street, New York, NY 10012, 212.539.0808, www.madamex.com
THE DETAILS: Lady Jane’s meets at Madame X (94 West Houston) on the first Monday of every month, 7-9 PM. Cash bar (Drinks are $5). Admission is $5 or one gently-used paperback romance novel with net proceeds supporting local women’s charities. There will also be signed books for sale and swag!
Didn’t you know? That’s when authors really go wild. After dark. Anyone who’s attended a romance convention can verify that. After dark is when the devils horns, vampire teeth and faery wings come out, along with usually a good showing of exposed cleavage, funky shoes and wild makeup. Yeah, I’m guilty of it myself. There are even a few pictures around the web to prove it.
So when is the next opportunity to see authors gone wild? Authors After Dark this September 16-19th in Secaucus, NJ, of course. And it’s not too late for readers to sign up to attend.
What will you find there? Authors, Publishers, Book Bloggers, Readers, Editors, and Vendors. What does your $140 registration include? Reader panels, writer panels, just for fun panels, parties, 5 meals, free alcohol, and the book signing. There is also a goodie bag full of stuff, giveaways through out, lots of swag, TONS of free books, and a silent auction of dozens of baskets donated by the pubs and authors, proceeds from the auction to benefit a local charity.
What will I be doing there? Signing books. Dressing in my fab costume I just bought. Sitting on a few panels. I will also have 2 baskets up in the auction. One for cowboy lovers and one for military lovers. I know my fellow Loves Immortal Pantheon authors and I are giving away a Nook eReader at our party during the con.
Want more info? Here’s how to get it…
Visit the AAD Site
Listen in on BlogTalkRadio Thursday the 15th @ 1pm ET for a special 90 minute AAD show.
Check it out if you’re interested. Registration prices go up Aug. 1st and the last day to book the hotel is mid August.
I put up with a lot of shit because of what I do for a living. Things like my friends introducing me as a porn writer, to the point that one guy actually believed I write porno movie scripts. I had to show him a book to prove they were actual real books with actual stories. At a book signing a woman looked at the cover of one of my books and said, “I like story in my books.” Um, excuse me? Do I know you?
But hey, you know what, I’m a working writer and have been since the day I graduated college with my BA in English. That means I write for money. I write what sells. I write for the market, whatever that market is. If I get the opportunity and find there is more income to be made writing porn scripts, I’ll write porn scripts. Recently threesomes sell like hotcakes. I began writing threesomes and started to receive royalty checks that could actually pay my mortgage. Of course that doesn’t matter to the people who write or read ‘serious’ literature.
Whatever.
My point here is that though I’m not opposed to writing porn, I don’t write porn or even erotica for that matter. In fact, I’ve received a few reader and editor comments that my stuff is ‘not erotic enough’ or ‘not hot enough for their taste’, proving you really can’t please everyone.
I often find myself riding a very pointy and uncomfortable fence between those two groups of people. Every person I meet I make a conscious decision whether or not to tell them what I do for a living. Say, “I’m a writer” and invariably the next question is “What do you write?”. Then you have to size up what kind of person you’re talking to and try to predict their reaction. The former poet laureate of the US was actually quite intrigued by me, while some other poet/haiku writers think I’m the devil on earth, so you really never know.
This, however, is something I am very proud of, and sadly, I don’t even think most people in my real life or my cyber world know about it. The American Red Cross Go Red for Women Corporate Teams. Go to that link and take a look at the top donating corporation. As of today, the top dollar contributor is ARe.
Sound familiar? That’s because ARe is All Romance eBooks, LLC. They are listed here on my site as one of the places where you can purchase my books. What you may not know is when not ‘penning porn’ I am the Manager of Media and Public Relations for ARe. Yup, I have a title and business cards and everything. In fact, I even have a summer intern all of my own.
One of my responsibilities for ARe over the past year was spearheading the 28 Days of Heart Campaign. Though an eBook retailer, this time last year we opened the doors to published authors and began taking submissions of novellas that we would sell to benefit the American Heart Association in an effort to combat the number one killer of women–heart disease.
To date ARe has forwarded $7,634.39 to the AHA from the sales of those 28 eBooks, and proceeds will continue to be turned over for the length of the contracts. We’ve donated more than Pepsi Co. Upstate and believe me, that is something to be excited about. I live near Pepsi’s headquarters. It’s like a city in itself, and little ol’ ARe is beating them in the tally.
I helped do that! Not only is one of my books part of the charity series, but I was also in charge of the project and the team of talented individuals that made it happen. I think I was even touted as being the Editor in Charge. Another title that doesn’t have the word ‘porn’ in it. Imagine that! The best part is, because of the success of last year, we’re about to do it all again and I am thrilled.
So, what can I take away from this personally? For one, I need to somehow stop caring about what people think. Porno or prissy, I write what I write and I have to stop apologizing for it and concentrate on the achievements I am truly proud of.
For you authors, we’ll be announcing the call for subs for the next 28 Days of Heart series to be released in February 2011. (I came up with the series title too! My Associates Degree in Marketing comes in handy). Details will follow but I hope you’ll consider becoming part of this incredibly fulfilling endeavor. And–I’m about to get really catty here so forgive me–for that one organization who refused to publicize our call for submissions last year on their erotic romance writers blog/site, I have one thing to say–$7,634.39 and counting!
Cat
