Category: Life

Life, writing romance

Everyone loves a soldier…

I’ve had this fantasy since I began seriously writing romance in 2006. I’ve always wanted to walk through an airport and see a traveler reading one of my books, like I always see them reading James Patterson, or whatever the current, hot new bestselling release is (according to the NY Times). Well last night, the soldier kind of made my dreams come true. My Army consultant is stateside for leadership training and…this is amazing, I still can’t believe it…while flying to Fort Benning in Georgia, he saw a woman reading my book in the airport! It was the first one he helped me write back in 2007, A Few Good Men, while he was a tank commander in Ramadi and I started seriously penning real life military missions into my romantic fiction, thanks to him. He told the woman he knew me, and that I support his platoon, but he didn’t tell her he helped me, that the missions in the book were actually his. He didn’t think she’d believe him. I reminded him that his name is most likely in the dedication, but always a man of mystery, Sean wanted her to figure it out for herself. And actually, […]

Life, Romance Novels

SECRETS OF A PROMO HO-BUY YOURSELF A COWBOY

My countdown to the release of UNRIDDEN on May 26th continues with another replay of one of my blog posts from the Linden Bay Romance MySpace Blog that I wrote back when Rough Stock released. Enjoy! Cat PROMOTION—the dirty little secret of being a writer that no one tells you until it is too late is that writing the book is not enough, getting it published is only the beginning. You can write the next Harry Potter, but if no one knows it exists, who’s going to buy it? Just like little old me, even publishing powerhouses like Nora Roberts and Stephanie Meyers have to hit the marketing trail to promote their books, the only difference being, while they are appearing on network talk shows or are the keynote speakers at national conventions, I am sitting at a table in the back of the Borders in Middletown, New York. I don’t have a press person. I don’t have a huge NY publisher pushing me. So sometimes, I have to think out of the box when it comes to promo. I’ve become known for my unique approach in promoting my military romances. At conventions and book signings you’ll see me wearing […]

Life, Romance Novels

HOW DOES A NY ROMANCE WRITER DO RODEO RESEARCH?

As I gear up for release of my next cowboy book, UNRIDDEN, on May 26th, I can’t help remininscing. Below is a blog I posted on the Linden Bay MySpace back in December when Rough Stock was released. The Work in Progress I talk about is UNRIDDEN, back when it was in it’s infancy. Enjoy. Cat   Research…every writer has to do it occasionally, some more often than others depending on the genre being written. I know I have to do quite a bit for my military romances or risk committing factual faux pas which will cost me the respect of readers. There is research where you get a book or find a website to get your facts, and that is important and helpful, but it’s not enough. It’s not enough to immerse both the writer, and consequently the reader, in the world of the characters in the story. It is not just laziness that has me, more often than not, seeking information and factual details from my “muses” rather than another resource. Picture this… I am on the phone with one of my military consultants when I hear a bugle being played in the background. After spending all of his […]