Thursday Thirteen - 244 - 13 Questions For Taryn Blackthorne, Author of EVEN FOR ME

I have a treat for all of you Big Cat lovers out there. Taryn Blackthorne, author of the shapeshifter romantic suspense novella EVEN FOR ME has dropped by A Piece of My Mind to answer questions about her story and life in general.

Welcome Taryn!

1 - Your novella is a werecat shapeshifter romantic suspense story. Which large cats are your favorites? What attracts you to them?


I’m really interested in North American wildcats, especially the puma/mountain lion/cougar.

I was vacationing with my family in the White Mountains in New Hampshire one year. I was in the back seat, being a bored teenager until my mother gasped and my father slammed on the breaks. I got between the seats in time to see a cougar waltz across the highway. She stopped right on the yellow line, turned to us and gave us the stink eye, then kept going. I’ve been hooked since.

2 - Cougar stink eye - wow. That would be a life-defining moment, for sure. Do you have a cat in real life?


Yep, her super secret ‘pen name’ is She-Who-Oversees-All, or SWOA for short.

She picked me when I went to the Denver Dumb Friends’ League ‘just to look’. It’s a cute story and I love to tell it at parties. Maybe I’ll put it up on my website sometime. SWOA’s pictures are there, but here’s one, just the same. She doesn’t like cameras, just being in control.

3 - Would you consider being spell cast into a shapeshifter a blessing or a curse if it happened to you?

I’d consider it a blessing, think of the calorie burn from the shift alone! The reflexes, the ability to do things no one else can do? Being strong enough to handle anything that comes my way, even a sexy alpha male?

Oh yeah, definitely a blessing.

4 - How does your main character Aislyn feel about it?

Aislyn’s a little different than I am, when it comes to standing out in a crowd.

She’s got mixed heritage (bioDad was Native American), was given up for adoption at a young age and bounced around the foster care system. She finally found a foster family that tried to adopt her, but the legal system didn’t help her out. She grew up wanting to be ‘normal’.

Everything that made her different and unique she saw as a problem. So turning furry? Definitely a curse to her.

5 - Your hero Jackson Havens is a ghost hunter. Is he the sort of male character to which you’re most attracted? Or is there some of Taryn Blackthorne in him?

Neither, really. I had a hard time writing Jackson, because he’s such an arrogant, close-minded SOB.

He’s been taught his whole life to hunt Shifters, to not pay any attention to what they say, who they are as people, how they can actually help, are actually necessary to the local environment. And he never questions his family’s orders.

Stubborn doesn’t even begin to describe this guy, so the more I could rub his face in the fact he has to think for himself, the better.

I’m actually attracted to male characters like Rodriguez. He’s super sexy, to me.

6 - Can you tell us about your forest fire misadventure?

Okay, you know that saying if it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all? Well, my luck’s a little different…it’s not bad per say and it’s not dumb luck, it’s just weird. I seem to be in the wrong place at the right time.

The first forest fire misadventure happened at a friend’s wedding reception. They had gone out on the balcony of this resort to get some pictures taken and in the background was this lovely misty kinda thing that made the pictures turn out beautifully.

It was smoke from one of the worst forest fires in decades. We left the reception just ahead of the fire.

Then there was the time I was on a bus back to the Northern Manitoba town I was living in. Again, forest fire season and again, wrong time at the right place kinda deal. The fire was crossing the highway, literally jumping the bus. That time was a little scary.

7 - How about your freak snowstorm excitement?

I was living in Denver at the time. The city was hit with the worst snowstorm in a hundred years.

I mean, I grew up in Nova Scotia. We have snowstorms all the time. You’d have thought that a big city like Denver could handle some snow.

But no, we were buried inside the house for days until the entire block got shack wacky. We had a shoveling party instead of a block party and set up runs to the grocery stores on the plowed roads for emergency supplies. I remember hearing on the radio that they cancelled city hall.

City hall? Really?

8 - What would you say is worse – fire or ice as weapons of nature?

Being Canadian, I’m torn. I’ve experienced both to the nth degree. Then again, I’ve grown up around the water (occasionally falling in) and driven fifteen minutes ahead of a tornado too. I guess I’ll go with the one that ends up killing me?

9 - If you could choose three fictional fantasy worlds created by other authors to visit for a week, which ones would they be?

Pern because who wouldn’t want a fire lizard or ride a dragon? I cried when we lost Anne McCaffery this past year.

Damar would be second because of the big cats and the horses, not to mention the mental abilities of certain kings and queens. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley has always been a favourite of mine.

And the third…hmm. Pottermore? Nah. Patricia Briggs’ Tri Cities? Lilith Saintcrow’s Santa Cruz? I don’t know about the third, I’m torn.

10 - More bundles-of-three questions: did you watch much fantasy genre TV when you were a kid? What were your three favorite shows when you were growing up?

Three favs? Hmm, I might be dating myself here, but:

Beauty and the Beast (Ron Perlman version)

ST:NG because I always watched that with my Dad

Gargoyles though they hit during my university years…

11 - EVEN FOR ME is also a romantic suspense. What are your three favorite romantic suspense films?

Sleeping with the Enemy

Romancing the Stone

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

They all count, right?

12 - Definitely!

The natural world is a big interest for you. What are your top five eco-warrior habits?

1. Recycle

2. Reuse

3. Power smart consumption (hanging clothes out, plug in kettles, energy efficient light bulbs)

4. Grow your own.

5. Buy local when you can’t (cuts on transportation impacts AND supports local economy)

13 - How does being an e-book author work with your environmental concerns?

It’s the best of both worlds, I get to tell my stories and save trees! As long as I’m power-smart, of course ;)

Thanks for dropping by, Taryn!

A fellow member of Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada, you can find Taryn at her website

Find her on Facebook

Follow her on Twitter

Here's an exclusive excerpt from EVEN FOR ME:

~~~~~


I needed a release and nothing on the television was going to do it for me. I needed to go for a run, but I didn’t trust myself just yet. I had lain in bed for hours, waiting for sleep to take me, counting sheep and the whole works before finally giving up and flipping on the tube.

After tomorrow night, I told myself, if I could wait that long. It had only been four days since the killer struck. Tomorrow night would be five since my last Change, and then on the sixth I could go for a run out here. I’d call Tammy in the morning and tell her I needed some time off. She’d either fire me or understand. I just hoped she wouldn’t toss all my stuff before I got back to claim it. Some of those books had been expensive, not that they’d told me anything useful. I know a few of the titles would have raised a few eyebrows in the local Bible Belt, maybe even gotten me on someone’s black list. Maybe I should donate them or something instead of packing them up. I threw the remote on the bed.

“Damn it.” I hated giving in to it. Meant I had no self-control.

I got up and tugged on some sweats, to wander around outside. I needed something to take the edge off until I could Change. Anxiety always made it worse and I was worried about the killings. The air was crisp and clean up here. And thin. Sound carried better. I heard a couple in the next room over working out the kinks on the bed. I heard another guy watching what had to be a porno-on-demand. What did I expect from a hotel with this price range? I kept walking, away from the grunting and groaning.

It growled inside me. It wanted to be let loose in some form or another. The one it was hearing was as good as any. I felt hot and the restlessness had nothing to do with being bored. I found myself walking towards the hotel bar without thinking and started to steer myself away. I worked in one all day and here I was heading for another? God, I had to be crazy. But the voice growled again. I went back to my bike, thinking I’d take a ride, when I caught a whiff of Bulgari. Hmm, my favorite scent on a man. It seemed too familiar somehow, had an undercurrent of something… Ah ha! The guy Tammy had been laughing at, it was his. He’d followed me out here. I followed the trail while It rumbled around inside my head with anticipation. I bent over, getting lower, closer to the scent, tracking. “Prey,” I whispered to myself.

I stamped down hard and stood up abruptly, feeling totally schizophrenic. I counted to ten, breathing slowly. I started forward again, this time not doing my impression of a Navy SEAL. Walking past a dusty red pickup, I slammed my open palm into the hotel door the Bulgari trail ended at by way of knocking. I heard some hasty scrambling and rustling before the door opened as far as the chain would let it.

“What the—?” He was rubbing his jade eyes with the back of his hand, in a wife-beater and polka dot boxers. His hair was messed up and his lips were slightly parted. Nice full lips and broad, muscled shoulders. I shivered. My head filled with all sorts of things to do to lips like that, ways to make that muscle flex and bend the way I wanted. I shook it.

“Listen, lady, I think you got the…”

“You’re following me. Why?” I always ended up blunt when I couldn’t seem to think things through. I just wish I could blame it on the divergence in my career choices.

He looked at me like I was three kinds of crazy, shut the door and I thought that would be the end of things, but he took off the chain and came out to face me.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Some of the other hotel patrons shouted their thoughts about that question, but I ignored them. I could only focus on the better part of what was in front of me. I was staring directly at his chest and the voice was insistent on getting some of something tonight. If not the woods then it would settle for sweat-soaked sheets and leaving teeth marks on those perfectly shaped shoulders that were so very close.

I turned and tried to walk away, but he grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him. The look in his eyes said he was pissed. I loved it. She loved it. He drew breath to speak again but he never got to. My mouth was on his before he could utter another sound. This close, the smell of soap, sweat and his heat filled my nostrils. I let it fill me. I growled softly. I watched his eyes and let him have my hand, but ran the other up his chest, over his shoulder and pulled his head down so I wasn’t up on tip toe. He relaxed into the kiss. My tongue started to trace his lips and he released my arm to cup my face, his other hand sliding around to my back. Yes, hissed the voice in the back of my head.

© Taryn Blackthorne

5 0n Friday - Set 76 - Please welcome guest blogger A. C. Ruttan

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.


And for today's set, I'm handing over the mic to my very good blog buddy, Amy - whom I've also met In Real Life. I can tell you that there is almost nothing sweeter than finally meeting dear friends face to face - and I have every intention of meeting as many of you as possible.

Amy's latest book was released in July from Samhain Publishing. An urban fantasy featuring portal keepers and demons - and set in the Canadian arctic! How's that for pushing boundaries? Incarnate is a paranormal thriller sure to be the perfect antidote to this summer's sizzling temperatures. Until the two main characters meet up, that is.

Here's a peek into her creative process, where music plays an integral role.

Welcome, Amy!


Thanks for having me, Julia! :)

When I wrote Incarnate, it was dark.

Darker than I usually write, so I had to make a playlist that was darker than any music I usually listened to.

I became so immersed in the music to keep me in the mood to write Incarnate that I would listen to these CDs when I had my shower or in the car.

I know, TMI, but I had to stay focused. This book was so different in so many ways.



That's why when I sold it I had to get a whole new name for this side of my writing. :)

Most of my list is Breaking Benjamin. Not very mixed I know, but their music set the tone I was looking for.

Awesome set, Amy! I have several of these on my Dean-and-Sam Supernatural playlist.

You can check out her web site at A.C. Ruttan.

Thanks, Julia for allowing me to share my 5 on Friday. :)

1 - I Will Not Bow - Breaking Benjamin



2 - Into the Nothing - Breaking Benjamin



3 - Dance With the Devil - Breaking Benjamin



4 - Topless - Breaking Benjamin



5 - Enter - Within Temptation

Thursday Thirteen - 209 - 13 Questions For Donna Alward, Author of Honeymoon With the Rancher

Look who's dropped by at A Piece of My Mind!

Harlequin Romance author Donna Alward, one of my fellow writers from Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada.

That's Donna above during a trip to the Harlequin head office, with Birgit Davis-Todd, Senior Executive Editor shown at left and Donna Hayes, President and CEO on the right.

1 - Donna, you're a Harlequin Romance author with a dozen titles published by this signature house. What are some of the best things about being a Harlequin writer?

So many good things!

No commute, I can work in jammies or yoga pants, I get to make up stuff and get paid for it!

I also get the backing of a wonderful editorial team at the biggest publisher of romantic fiction in the world. As a working writer, one of the best things is Harlequin’s distribution network. After a book goes off the shelves, it often gets a second life making the foreign market rounds.

I visited head office in Toronto recently and I can also say it is great to write for a company with such cool people.

We all know it sucks to work with people you don’t like and I’m happy to be spared that ordeal. There’s a “team” aspect to it that is fab and I’ve made so many friendships with other HQ authors and members of the team in all sorts of jobs!

2 - But Harlequin isn't your only publishing house. What is it like to write for Mills and Boon?

Mills and Boon was bought by Harlequin many moons ago, but kept its name. I’m a Mills and Boon author because I’m edited out of their offices in London, but it’s really all under the Harlequin umbrella. My Harlequin Romances come out in the UK as Mills and Boon Cherish – same books, different packaging.

I love being edited out of London. The editors are top notch and so very friendly! They are accessible and really work with their authors to make sure each book lives up to its potential.

I’m also a bit of an anglophile, so I love chatting with my editor and hearing her accent, lol! Being a Mills and Boon author provided me the opportunity to go to London a few years ago – my first trip overseas. I had a brilliant time (as they’d say) taking the tube and doing lunch for the better part of a week. This is the tenth book I’m working on with my current editor (Sally Williamson) and I hope I don’t go anywhere soon.

3 - And you also have four titles with Samhain Publishing. Is there any change in your writing voice between houses, or do you find that it makes no difference?

I think I write with pretty much the same voice, and deliver the same type of story. There’s a slight difference in sensuality level – my Harlequin Romances keep the bedroom door closed and my Samhain books keep it open.

The main difference I find is in editorial style. I like that, actually. I think I learn things about my writing from both my editors that make my writing stronger across the board. I’m really fortunate to have great editors at both houses!

4 - You've had multiple releases almost every year since you've been published. How do you manage the multiple contract deadlines that come with that?

I’m not sure “manage” is the right term because sometimes I don’t feel I manage it very well!

I learned that whatever I think I can do I need to add four weeks. So if I think I need 12 weeks to write a book, I ask for 16. I might be done early, but if life gets in the way, if the book doesn’t go well, if I get massive revisions… those things can really snowball.

If I hand in a book on time and move right into the next, it’s great, but if heavy revisions come suddenly my 12 weeks is down to 8 or 9. THAT creates a problem. Add a month and save some stress. If I have “spare” time (haha!), there’s always admin, promo, working on something else, or…gasp…downtime.

5 - Which was your first writer's conference? How did it feel to be surrounded by other people following the same creative path as yourself?

My first writer’s conference was actually RWA Nationals in Washington DC in 2009. It was amazing!

I’m a bit introverted so at times I had to escape to maintain my sanity, but it was so inspiring and awesome.

I met a lot of people I had only known online for years.

I met industry professionals.

I met my agent!

But the most inspiring thing was listening to the keynote and special speakers, and going to the RITA ceremony and I’ll tell you why.

I was sitting in a room with hundreds of other writers – some unpublished, some the biggest names in the business. But we were all the same – and I was in awe. Hearing Janet Evanovich talk about being down and out before getting the call was something I will never forget. Sitting in those rooms you realize that anything really is possible. I can’t wait to hit New York for this year’s conference!

6 - Me, too, Donna - and it will be my first conference! So, what was the defining moment for you, when you realized you were a 'real' writer?

Oh gosh. I’m not sure there is one.

There are definitely milestones. Finishing my first book and making my first submission.

Getting the first rejection.

Selling my first book. I’m pretty sure I felt like a real writer then.

The firsts after that were icing on the cake – holding that first author copy, seeing books on the shelves, first reader mail. It never gets old. I still have to pinch myself.

7 - You write contemporary stories featuring corporate heroes, but you tend to write more stories featuring cowboys and ranchers. Can you tell us the appeal for you with those western characters and settings?

I fell into writing westerns, you know. My first Harlequin Romance was the first western I ever wrote and it did very well, so I was encouraged to write more.

I love me some tycoons and every day men, but I learned that you just can’t take the farm out of the girl. It’s a “write what you know” thing.

I love escaping with other types of stories and I’ve written a few, but when it comes right down to it, I like my guy in a pair of dusty jeans and a t-shirt.

I have a connection to the land and that translates into my ranchers and cowboys. Sometimes, like my characters, I like to get off the ranch, but I always go home again to wide open spaces.

8 - You write for a group blog called Petticoats and Pistols - how did you find one another?

I did a few guest blogs for them when I had new releases…I don’t remember when I first visited the blog, but I was looking at places to promo western romances and reach western readers. Last year they approached me to be a regular, and it’s a great group.

There’s a really wide variety of people on board from all areas of romance publishing – a lot of historical westerns and inspirational westerns too in addition to the contemporaries. Come on by and sit a spell.

9 - What attracted you to the Argentinian setting for Honeymoon With the Rancher?

My editor asked if I’d like to write a story for a series within the Romance line called Escape Around the World. I thought of several locations I could write about, but in the end I wanted to do something different while still giving my readers the sort of book they’d come to expect from me – especially since I’d talked to my editors and agent about branding and consistency.

Something twigged me on to Argentina and I did some online research and fell in love.

I watched a lot of videos and did a lot of reading. I realized it was perfect – I could deliver a western with a twist.

Something new and exotic, but with a lot of the elements that my readers have come to expect. In the end the Escape Around the World miniseries was discontinued, and the book is being released as a straight Harlequin Romance. I’m really glad now that I chose something a bit familiar as my “departure” from the ordinary. It fits in with my direction even without the branding.

10 - Ooo - can you tell us about your Argentinian rancher, Tomas Mendoza?

Tomas has a big old guilt complex. He was engaged once and his fiancée died and he blames himself.

He turned his back on a lot of things in his life and used his resources to help his fiancée’s parents convert their ranch (estancia) into a guest ranch. The idea of agri-tourism is interesting to me so I had a lot of fun with it.

He’s kind of a recluse there until Sophia arrives and really shakes things up. He has to face some things he’s been hiding from as he falls in love with her.

11 - And Sophia Hollingsworth?

Sophia does what I hope I’d do if I caught my dirty, low-life fiancée cheating. She calls off the wedding and goes on the honeymoon all by herself.

She puts on a brave front even though she’s a bit terrified. And she’s been told what to do all her life. Taking charge isn’t easy for her even though she’s determined to do it.

I loved watching her grow and face her own demons to find her HEA with Tomas!

12 - Did this couple give you any surprises as you 'introduced' them to each other in your first draft?

*thud*

That was the sound of me falling off my chair.

To be honest, I have tried to block out the first draft of this book as a traumatic event. I got myself into SO MUCH TROUBLE.

The problem with doing a lot of research and being so enamoured of a particular aspect is the potential to overdo it, and I did. I sent the book to my editor, who was not happy with the result.

I ended up rewriting the entire thing from scratch, except for maybe 20 pages. The second version was MUCH better than the first, because I started focusing on the right things and went deeper with my characters.

When I wrote that draft, I did realize a crucial thing about my heroine that really opened up her whole backstory. Some books are like that. And hopefully not often. LOL!



13 - Donna, thanks for giving us this exclusive sneak peek at Honeymoon With the Rancher!








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Something smells delicious.”

He nearly dropped the bowls when she appeared in the doorway behind him.

Her hair was down but slightly tousled from sleep, the curls falling softly over one shoulder. Heavy-lidded eyes blinked at him and she was several inches shorter, thanks to the fact that she’d left her shoes in her room and appeared in bare feet. That was why he hadn’t heard her approach. His gaze stuck on ten perfectly painted coral toenails. She had extraordinarily pretty feet, and even without the shoes he could tell she had a great set of legs hiding beneath her straight skirt.

It was the princess, unwrapped, and he swallowed, realizing he found her very appealing indeed. At least physically.

That was the last thing he needed.

“Did you sleep well?” He turned away from her, putting the bowls on the table.

“Yes, thank you. I feel very refreshed.”

Her voice was soft and Tomas felt it sneak into him, down low.

“I didn’t mean to sleep so late,” she apologized, and he swallowed as the husky tone teased his ears. “Whatever you’ve cooked smells wonderful.”

“It’s nothing fancy.” He turned back to her and steeled his features. He would not be swayed by a pretty face and a soft voice. Damn Carlos and Maria. If they were here, they could handle Miss Princess and he would be in the barn where he liked it. “I do not usually do the cooking.”

“I’m not used to a man cooking for me at all, so that in itself is a treat.” She blessed him with a shy smile.

His pulse leapt and he scowled. His physical response to her was aggravating. “I expect you’re more accustomed to five-course meals and staff to wait upon you, right?”

A look of hurt flashed across her face and he felt guilty for being snide. He was just about to apologize when the look disappeared and she furrowed her brow. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, querida.” The apology he’d toyed with died on his lips and he reached into a drawer for cutlery. “You practically scream high maintenance. It is clear you are used to the best. Which makes your presence here alone all the more intriguing.”

“High maintenance?” A pretty blush infused her cheeks. She really was good, he thought. An intriguing combination of innocent ingénue and diva. Maybe a few days mucking around a ranch would be good for her. It had certainly done wonders for him.

She stepped forward, the soft, injured look gone. “I see,” she said. “You think I’m some sort of pampered creature who lives to be waited upon.”

“Aren’t you?”

“Not even close.”

“Oh, come on.” He finished setting the table and turned to face her. “Designer clothes, perfect hair…is that even your natural colour? You expected to arrive at some retreat or spa, didn’t you? Not a working estancia. Admit it.”

Her cheeks blazed now, not with embarrassment but with temper. “Okay, fine. Yes, this is not what I expected. You are not what I expected.”

He smiled with satisfaction. “No, I am not. If you’re not up to it, say so now. I’ll arrange for you to return to Buenos Aires tomorrow.” There, he decided. He’d given her a perfectly legitimate out. The few hours it would take to drive her back to the city would be worth it to have the rest of the week free to work. Better yet, she’d be gone before Maria and Tomas got back. Maria would get ideas into her head. She’d been prodding lately about Tomas getting away more. That he needed to stop hiding. That he should find a nice girl.

Not that a woman like Sophia, on her solo honeymoon would qualify in Maria’s eyes, but it would be better all around if the potential was erased altogether. Tomas didn’t want a nice girl. He didn’t want to get away more. He wanted the life he’d chosen here on the pampas. Simple and uncomplicated. He’d chosen it to help him forget.

His insides twisted. Some days now he tried to remember. Forgetting seemed so very wrong. Disloyal.

“And you’d like that, wouldn’t you.”

Her saucy tone turned his head. “Perdón?”

“Are you trying to get rid of me, Mr. Mendoza? Get me out from under your feet? This wasn’t my mix up. You think by threatening me with some honest work I’ll run and hide away somewhere where staff will wait on me hand and foot?”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

She paused for a moment, then leveled him with a definitive glare. “No.”

“No?” He raised an eyebrow.

“No. I want to stay.”

“I checked the books and spoke to Maria, by the way.”

“And?”

“And the refund isn’t notated in the regular spot and Maria doesn’t remember. She said she will straighten everything out when she comes back on Wednesday.”

“And then Wednesday you will see,” Sophia replied confidently.

“You realize what I’m saying, right? People who stay at the estancia participate in all kinds of activities. Working with the animals, in the barns. Even in the house. They become one of the family. With the hard work and the benefits too.”

“You don’t think I can do it?”

He looked at her, all hair-do and perfect makeup and pedicured feet. “No, I don’t.”

“Then perhaps we’re in for a week of surprises.” She flashed him a superior smile. “Maybe now you can surprise me with what’s cooking in that pot. I’m starving.”

- Donna Alward, 2011

Thursday Thirteen - 203 - 13 Ways to Read Erotica Written by Atlantic Canadian Writers

Last night at the Keshen Goodman Library in Halifax, three women from my writers group spoke at a public panel about the Erotica genre.

This week A Piece of My Mind spotlights these east coast writers who do their part to warm up the nights when the fog rolls in.

Lilly Cain - shown above at a group booksigning at Chapters - writes for Red Sage and Carina Press.
















Renee Field - shown at a group networking event at Argyle Fine Art - writes for Ellora's Cave.















Cathryn Fox, shown here at left with Anne MacFarlane at Cathryn's home office - writes for NAL Heat, Harlequin Spice, Kindle ebooks, Samhain Publishing and Ellora's Cave.

Here are twelve tales of erotically-charged romance that blow the bedroom doors off their hinges.



1 - Alien Revealed















2 - The Naked Truth

Releasing in June!













3 - Building Magic














4 - Dark Harmony


Read my review HERE











5 - Be My Vampire Tonight











6 - Beastly Passion














7 - Elemental Love

Releasing next week!













8 - Wild and Tender

This edition combines two novellas into one.

You can read my review of Love Me Wild, the first part of Wild and Tender.










9 - Pleasure Inn













10 - Wet in Whispering Cove














11 - Indulgent














12 - The Hotline

You can read my review HERE










13 - "Erotic romance novels, as defined by Romance Writers of America, are stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction.

The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn’t be removed without damaging the storyline."

- Wikipedia

Through the Opera Glasses - 66 - How a Killer Query Letter Can Sell Your NaNoWriMo Story

If you're like me, you've given up several Novembers to the writing marathon known as NaNoWriMo.

So far, I'm currently finishing the second draft of the first NaNo story I developed a few years ago. I've also got about a third of another story from an aborted NaNo.

I'm already looking forward to this year's marathon - something I couldn't see putting myself through again, after my first ordeal. But something happened during these past few years. The thrill of the finish is a remarkable feeling on many levels. I've experienced it twice so far.

Even the unfinished attempt gave me the beginning of another novel - in fact, my Weekend Writer's Retreat is currently exploring the backstory of that one.

My friend Amy Ruttan knows an even greater thrill when it comes to the NaNo story she wrote last year.

She just sold it to Samhain Publishing under the name A.C. Ruttan!

Amy has very kindly agreed to share her killer query letter which sold her NaNo novel. If you've got a story kicking around, and are willing to put your blood, sweat and sanity into doing NaNoWriMo this November, just imagine what can emerge on the other side of that finish line.

~~~

Amy's Killer Query Letter


Dear Secret Agent and or editor [Of course here you would address the person your query is directed to]:

I am pleased to submit for your consideration my complete 80,000 word Urban Fantasy INCARNATE.

When those who protect us from the Apocalypse are being murdered there is only one Incarnate left with the balls to keep mankind from being sucked into hell—too bad she doesn’t really have balls. Cia doesn’t mind banishment in the Canadian Arctic, what does bother her is someone is bumping off fellow Incarnates, and she’s the next target. She’s already died once before and she’s not about to let that happen again. Especially, since the killer is apparently her estranged husband, Arthur who hasn’t spoken to her in a decade since she killed his brother.

To prove Arthur’s innocence and earn back his love she needs to find the real murderer before the Wrath consumes him. Although that’s going to be tricky given the entire world seems to be going to hell in a hand basket and her past life continues to haunt her on every turn of the ice road.

She has thirty days to find the killer before Hell breaks loose—literally

I am a member of the ____ [NAME ORGANIZATIONS HERE]. Under the name Amy Ruttan I am published with ___ [NAME PUBLISHERS HERE].

I would be happy to forward the complete manuscript at your request.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your legal name here]

Julianne MacLean says Great query! Congrats on the sale to Samhain, Amy!

Amy Ruttan says Thanks Julianne! Query letters were always so difficult for me. A great help was Query Ninja and her book. Best ebook on writing selling queries ever!

Travis Cody says Well now I want to read that book!