Tag: writing romance

Romance Novels

Good, Bad or Indifferent – is being hated better than forgettable?

Let me tell you a story… A few years ago, about three I’d estimate, I read an article about an author self-publishing very erotic stories. They estimated she’d hit $1 million in sales that year. Remember, this was pre- 50 Shades of Grey, so those numbers were impressive. I downloaded one of her stories from Amazon and had to admit, it was really, really dirty, even by my standards, and it was selling like hotcakes. So I took a story I had lying around, a threesome that had been rejected by 2 publishers because the heroine was unsympathetic. I took Educating Ansley and I dirtied it up. Added all the sex scenes I’d been afraid to add at first writing. I even took the constructive rejection feedback to heart and gave Ansley a backstory to explain her behavior and character. Then I threw it up on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and didn’t say a word. I was a little afraid to since I wasn’t sure how it would be received by my regular readers. Without promo it almost immediately began selling over 200 copies a day at BN alone, matched closely by the Amazon sales. That’s when I started […]

Contest

And the Great Condom Scavenger Hunt Winner is…

Leslie Marcyoniak Even though Leslie wrote in her email that she could only find 13 of the 14 uses of the word “condom” in ONE NIGHT WITH A COWBOY, I only required 5 to enter so Leslie will receive the paperback Advanced Review Copy of Oklahoma Nights, Book 2 TWO TIMES AS HOT which releases September 24th and is on preorder now. Kudos to Leslie and to all of the many entrants for finding my elusive condoms, since the All About Romance Reviews reviewer who wrote this statement in her review of ONE NIGHT WITH A COWBOY, “There was never any discussion of birth control or disease prevention during any of their romantic moments, despite the fact that they were virtual strangers.” apparently missed every single reference when she ‘read’ my book. I won’t judge. Perhaps she needs reading glasses? I’m getting up there in years myself so I know those pesky eyes start to go over 40. Anyway… on to the fun part, the reveal of all the many, many references–so many in fact I had to think to myself, damn, I made this character a tad too condom obsessed. Enjoy!! 1. “I get the one in black.” When Jace didn’t […]

Romance Novels

Classic Romance Tropes ~ the tortured hero

Tortured heroes… women love them. Maybe it’s something about their dark brooding nature. Maybe we want to be the one woman to save them from themselves. Apparently I am not immune to the tortured hero myself since it seems I keep writing them into my books. Jack Gordon from my Red, Hot & Blue series was probably the first one for me. He grew up with a single mother after his drunk of a father left, but he and his brothers kept themselves on the straight and narrow. Now, Jack is in the military, basically a happy guy, but circumstances lead to him still being tortured. He’s watching his best friend TREY hook up with the woman he loves and his older brother JIMMY is missing in action during an undercover op in Kosovo. I torture my cowboys as well. Mason from ROUGH STOCK is the quintessential dark brooding cowboy, which made him the perfect counterpart for Clay, his happy-go-lucky best friend. When Mason and Clay find themselves both in love with same girl, Mason really has something to brood about until they try to figure out how to make this strange three-way relationship work. Then there are those broody […]