Great Review for Damned and Desired

All reviews are subjective. We as authors know that not everyone is going to like our books. But it’s great, and a big relief, when a reviewer DOES like it. So I have to share this one from Romantic Times Magazine.

4 Stars: “Excellent storytelling, complete with a demoness and her minions, enlivens the pages with shapeshifting space travelers bent on destruction. There is plenty of sex to titillate the senses and enough intrigue to challenge the mind.” Reviewed by Donna M. Brown.

Here’s the blurb she gave: “Sakari is a Drone who must give many offerings of chi to the rulers of Anartia to keep their planet in existence. Her goal is to capture Sha Warriors from Earth to utilize their superior sexual energy. Unfortunately she kills her first assignment. Not wanting to return to her slave status, she begs for another chance.

Once again Brad is passed over for the search and rescue team. He escapes to the desert, where he encounters a beautiful young woman. Brad and Sakari begin an adventure that takes them out of this world. Unfortunately, Sakari is monitored by other Drones who report her status to the rulers. She’s falling fast for Brad, a Sha Warrior and shapeshifter, and doesn’t want him sacrificed.

http://www.jasminejade.com/pm-8075-327-damned-and-desired.aspx

A World of Dragons

No, it’s not another Playstation or Xbox game. I found some interesting things about dragons while researching my new book with Ellora’s Cave, Dragon Witch. Dragons appear in a number of popular movies: Dragonheart, Eragon, Dragon Slayer, Neverending Story and others.

Dragon mythology can be found in most cultures throughout the world. The two most common types are the European dragon and the Chinese dragon. But there are many others I came across and each have interesting characteristics. Most dragons are huge reptilian-like creatures, with either one or two sets of lizard-like legs, a long tail and able to emit fire from their mouths. Dragons with no front legs are called wyvern.

The European Dragon has bat-like wings protruding from its back. These dragons are hatched from eggs and are known to viciously guard treasures, hidden in a cave. European dragons are usually depicted as malevolent.

Chinese Dragons resemble a snake and can have many legs. They are said to possess great wisdom and magic. Chinese dragons can take on human form (Ancient shapeshifters-ha!) and were thought of as benevolent.

One of my characters in Dragon Witch, Kai, is a shapeshifting dragon with an interesting lifecycle. I did find a few shapeshifting dragons in my research but none with the peculiar traits that Kai has.

The Eight Types of Dragons:

1. The Naga - A wingless dragon from India. They prefer watery dwellings and sometimes guard treasure like the European dragons.
2. The Bakunawa – From the Philippines. It’s a deity that looks like a serpentine dragon with 2 sets of wings and a large mouth. Bakunawa translates to “moon eater” or “man eater”.
3. The Yilgean – From Siberia – A reptilian dragon depicted as a man-eater.
4. The Korean dragon – Similar to the Chinese dragons. They were supposed to be peaceful and kind and like watery places—rivers, ponds, lakes and oceans.
5. The Niòhöggr – From Scandinavia. A Norse legend and a nasty one. It lives below a giant ash tree, trapped in a seething caldron of corpses. An equivalent of Hell.
6. The Zmaj – In the Republic of Slovenia – Three heads, green scaly skin and fire-spitting. All the usual traits associated with dragons.
7. The Chuvash dragon – The European part of Russia. Winged, fire-breathing, but can shapeshift from dragon to human and back.
8. The Cuélebre – A Spanish dragon from Auturias/Cantabria. It’s serpentine, winged and has colorful scales. They’re immortal and hoard treasure and fairy-like blonde nymphs.

Dragon Witch will be available on September 15th. http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-8624-50-dragon-witch.aspx

HOW TO SURVIVE REJECTIONS

Rejections sting no matter where you are in your publishing career. From the multi-published, NY Times bestseller to the yet to be published author, most everyone gets rejections at one time or another.

Writers should not take rejections personal, but they do. It’s unavoidable when they put so much of themselves into their books. Rejections are easier to survive if you think of them as stepping stones along your writing career, or opportunities to help you become a better writer.

HOW DO REJECTIONS MAKE YOU A BETTER WRITER?

• Pat yourself on the back. If you have a rejection, you’ve taken the brave first step to becoming a published writer.


• Rejections make you strive to put out your best work all the time and not get lazy.


• Teach you to slow down in your submission process. We all get excited when we come to THE END of a book. We want to begin sending out all those queries and partials immediately. But rejections will quickly follow with this method. Let the manuscript sit for at least a few days, even better, a few weeks, then revise, revise, revise. Let it sit and revise again.
• Help you to identify your strengths and areas for improvement. If you’re fortunate to get feedback.
• Motivate you to develop your craft.


• Help you to grow a thick skin so future rejections are easier.


• Help you to understand that rejections are part of the business of writing and publishing.


• They make you humble.
  
  FOUR TYPES OF REJECTIONS:

• Form letters – Forms letters could mean a few things. Most new writers get them while they’re still developing their craft. Don’t be discouraged. If you’ve finished a novel, you’re way ahead of the curve. Developing your craft takes time. And with each book you write, you will get better. You can also get a form letter if your writing is good but you targeted the wrong publisher, editor, line or agent. Another reason could be if that particular editor or agent simply doesn’t have the time to comment so they use form letters.


• Letter with comments – I celebrate every time I get these kinds of rejection letters, especially if the comments give specific advice as to what worked and didn’t work for them in the story. I’ve even had an editor or agent recommend that a manuscript could be sent to particular publisher or agent. These are gifts from the professionals. Study these comments carefully and with an open mind to see if they ring true. Whether or not they do, please send a Thank You to that editor or agent. They are extremely busy and for them to take the time to give any feedback means they saw some element of promise. You may be sending a future project to them.
  NOTE: If you don’t agree with the comments or if you feel the comments were rude, don’t argue or send nasty emails back. I’m hearing on the social networks that writers are doing this. Why would you? Vent to your friends, not to professionals you hope to work with in the future. That’s professional suicide. Even if you don’t expect to work with that agent or editor, word gets around.


• Letter with request to revise and resubmit. This editor or agent definitely sees potential with your project. They may want to see if you can revise and also if you’re receptive to revisions. Many writers mistakenly feel their work is perfect as it is. An editor or agent knows the market and knows what their house wants and what’s selling in today’s market. If you’re not an easy person to work with, there are plenty of talented writers out there who are. Some argue that if an editor requests revisions, they should make an offer. For an established author, that may be true. But for a newbie author, I can understand why they don’t offer a contract. I was asked to revise and resubmit without a contract and the revised manuscript was rejected. Sure I was disappointed, but I found it to be an excellent learning experience and well worth my time. I believe my writing improved, and I developed a contact with a publisher.
  NOTE: Writers who are too rigid about their work and feel their projects are perfect as is, will remain stagnant, continue to make the same mistakes and limit their potential.
• No response rejections – These are the toughest ones. Some agents are so swamped with queries and submissions that they’ve adopted the ‘no response rejection’. If you don’t hear from them within a certain amount of time, then they aren’t interested. Then there are the no response rejections from editors and agents who have requested your manuscript at conferences or through queries. After a follow up email or snail mail letter, you still don’t get a response from these submissions. Are these rejections? Or are they submissions that have gotten lost? I’d like to think they were set aside as a possible maybe, then forgotten. These are very frustrating, but also part of the business. Usually after a year, I mark REJECTED on my Excel spreadsheet.
  
  WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET A REJECTION:

• Read it over carefully for suggestions and comments. They could help you improve your work. Ask writing friends to get their take on the comments. Maybe they see something you don’t. Sometimes we’re too close to our writing and can’t see the same mistakes we continue to make.


• Send a thank you. That editor or agent took the time to review your work. It might not be right for them, but they took the time to evaluate your material.


• File it away. You may need it for Tax purposes, but it’s also good to compare comments from other editors and agents. Are they giving you’re the same comments and suggestions? Are you making the same mistakes???


• Revise the manuscript if necessary and resubmit to new agents or editors. But don’t get stuck revising and revising one manuscript.


• Begin a new project. Keep writing. New projects will help you hone your skills.


• Don’t let rejections get you down. Email/call/text a friend, then get back to writing. Persistence will turn those rejections into a SALE.

Nina Pierce's Writer's Cave

Nina found writing through the back door. A lover of books from a young age, it never occurred to her that the diary she kept and the stories she wrote for English would turn into a career. But when multiple sclerosis stole her first love of teaching science, she did the only other thing she felt qualified to do sitting on her butt … write love stories.

Now, she spends her days penning tales of sexy alpha heroes with a chink in their armor and the kick-ass heroines who find their soft-gooey center you can’t help but love. Of course her nights are filled with erotic research *wink* and finding new ways to torture her characters before they find their happy-ever-after.

A native of Maine, she lives in the willy-wags of northern Maine, plopped dead center in potato country, with her high school sweetheart and soul mate of thirty-four years, her three grown children and a menagerie of aging pets who drive her insane. (The pets, not the humans.)

Nina's hot title by Ellora's Cave is A Touch of Lilly

Ex-Chicago detective Lilly D’Angelo is part of a secret alien race living on earth. With a gentle caress she can elevate the sexual energy of any male. Apprehending criminals lost in an erotic fugue is almost too easy—until she uses her gift on the wrong alien. Kidnapped and shipped into deep space, Lilly barely escapes with her life. Now she travels the galaxy alone working as a bounty hunter and hoping to find a soul mate unaffected by her touch.

Agent Dallas Sawyer works for QAL—deep space’s version of the FBI. After a disastrous mission that left a president murdered, his team member executed, and Dallas near death, he’s determined to take down the assassin targeting government officials. When a sexy human female gets between him and his goal, Dallas and his alien partner find themselves on the receiving end of some wild sex and a proposition that may very well blow up in their faces.

Because in deep space … true love can happen with just a touch.

Any one who knows me, knows that I loooove a good sexy sci fi story. Check out Nina's other books and cool stuff on her website:

http://www.ninapierce.com/

Or catch her on Around the Writer's Block -- Her Blog http://ninapierce.com/blog/

The Paranormal Realm of Mandy M. Roth's Writer's Cave

Mandy M. Roth grew up fascinated by creatures that go bump in the night. From the very beginning, she showed signs of creativity—writing, painting, telling scary stories that left her little brother afraid to come out from under his bed. Combining her creativity with her passion for the paranormal has left her banging on the keyboard into the wee hours of the night. Her books have won numerous awards, including an RT nomination for Best Paranormal Erotic.

Mandy lives on the shores of Lake Erie with her husband, their three boys and a boxer pup named Hercules. When Mandy is not writing, she’s doing cover art for various places with a super double secret brush name. She also co-hosts a live talk radio show, Raven Radio, which was recently mentioned in Romantic Times Magazine and has given several marketing workshops for authors. She has a Bachelor of Science and is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Marketing.

Did I say I Looove vampire stories? I selected one from the list of Mandy's books at Ellora's Cave.

Gypsy Nights: In the midst of a war between good and evil, a new type of vampire surfaced—one capable of compassion, love, remorse. Sebastian disobeyed orders, saving a pregnant gypsy carrying the child foretold to one day mate with a demon, forming a union that would end the war between their races.

Thirty years later, that child, Gitana, is now a very desirable woman. As Sebastian’s cold heart begins to beat again, he is driven by an undeniable need to claim her—in a strange twist of fate, he is her demon. But during the claiming, Gitana inherits Sebastian’s inner demon and is thrust into a web of insatiable lust. Complicating matters is Gitana’s ex, a vengeful werewolf who’ll stop at nothing to have her back.

To learn more about Mandy, please visit http://www.mandyroth.com/ or send an email to mandy@mandyroth.com.

Desiree Holt's Hot Writer's Cave

Desiree sent me her Writer's Cave photo and said, "Here’s where I dig in with my hot hunks." If you've ever read any of her books, you know she's has plenty of hot hunks.

Desiree Holt has lived a life of excitement that brings the color to her writing. She was a summer fishing guide, a summer field hand where she was one of only three women working, a member of a beginning ski team that skied in competition (and no, no broken bones!). She spent several years in the music business representing every kind of artist from country singer to heavy metal rock bands. For several years she also ran her own public relations agency handling any client that interested her.

She is twice a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award, a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio, and is published by four different houses. Romance Junkies said of her work: “Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last.”

Escape the Night, Desiree's recent release by Ellora's Cave.


When Anya Kane escaped the darkness Virgil Branson was selling her into, she sought help from her boss, Gus D’Amato, a hot and hunky FBI agent. Six months later she is out of his office and in his bed, enjoying the most erotic sex imaginable and forging a bond with the man who makes every muscle in her body quiver. But things go dramatically wrong and between bouts of thermonuclear sex that set them both on fire Gus has to find a safe place for them both.



She has an awesome website and blog. I hope you'll drop by and check them out:

http://www.desireeholt.com/
http://www.desireeholttellsall.com/

Feature Writers Cave- Lynn LaFleur

Lynn LaFleur was born and raised in a small town in Texas close to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Writing has been in her blood since she was eight years old and wrote her first “story” for an English assignment.

As well as writing at every possible moment, Lynn enjoys reading, scrapbooking, photography, and learning new things on the computer. She’s a software junky and loves to try out new programs, especially anything to do with graphics.

After living on the West Coast for 21 years, Lynn now lives 17 miles from her hometown in Texas. She’s a romantic at heart and can’t imagine ever writing anything but romances. A full-time writer, she spends her days creating stories of people who find their happily-ever-after, sometimes with the help of an alien or psychic or vampire.

I drew the curtain to take the picture of my desk, but it's usually open. I have 2 1/2 acres and my window looks out to my meadow, where I often see deer wander through.

Lynn's feature book is Two Lovers for Molly

Third in the Lavender Lace series.

A chance meeting with Julian Forrest changes author Molly Ross’ mind about her bad luck with men. Julian is not only gorgeous, but intelligent and charming.

Julian loves Molly’s sexy underwear. It makes his mouth water every time they make love. In less than a week, he knows he’s falling in love with her. Then Lane Edison comes back into Julian’s life. Despite being apart for a year, one kiss from the handsome man and Julian tumbles. He wants both Molly and Lane, but doesn’t know how that can happen…until he reads a threesome scene in the book Molly is writing.

Molly loves Julian, yet feels an instant attraction when she meets Lane. Discovering the two men were once lovers is a huge turn-on. When Julian suggests a ménage à trois, she’s more than willing to let the two men fulfill her fantasy.

Check out her website: http://www.lynnlafleur.com/

A Hot Wynter Daniels Writer's Cave

Wynter Daniels is the multi-published naughty alter ego of contemporary romance author Dara Edmondson. She lives in Florida with her husband of more than twenty years and their two nearly grown children. They are all the slaves of two very demanding cats.

After careers in marketing and the salon industry, Wynter’s wicked prose begged to be set free. She hopes you enjoy her steamy stories.

Hot cowboys works for me.

Horsing Around- City girl Paige Eastman arrives at her recently deceased father’s Ocala, Florida, horse ranch to settle his estate, but she finds more than material assets with his business partner, resident cowboy Jake Skinner. The two engage in a hot fling until Paige learns she must sell the struggling enterprise out from under Jake.

All Jake wants is a chance to turn the business around since Paige’s father nearly ran it into the ground. But his attention quickly shifts to wrangling the hot prima donna who is now his partner. Can they overcome their differences without dousing the fire burning between them?


Check out Wynter's website:

Email: wynter@wynterdaniels.com
Website: http://wynterdaniels.com/

New Contest at CoffeeTime Romance

FREE STUFF!

I'm up at CoffeeTime Romance as one of their Featured Author Contests for the month of August.

They're giving away a print copy of Desert of the Damned from Ellora's Cave. It's book 1 of my Demons in Exile series. Damned and Desired is book 2, although both books are stand alone reads. I'm working on book 3 (untitled).

If you go to the link at Coffeetime Romance (below) and answer three easy questions you'll be entered in the contest. The answers can be found by reading the blurb for Damned and Desired at the Ellora's Cave site. Good luck!!!!

http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/ContestPage.html