The Printed Fox: May 2013

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

And the winner is...

Congrats to June M.! She is the winner of The Printed Fox's "Who's Your Wicked Lover?" Giveaway, and wins a $10 gift card to the Naughty Nights Press online store.

Congrats again, June!

Side note: We have a lot of fun discussions on my Facebook fan page. I also sometimes use it to crowdsource future posts. So if you want to keep in the loop, or even be mentioned on TPF, make sure to give my Facebook fan page a like and follow my updates!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Who's Your Wicked Lover Giveaway

It's time for the Who's Your Wicked Lover Giveaway Bloghop!

There are some really fun things going on with this giveaway. The Grand Prize is a Kindle Fire HD 7" for one random, lucky commenter (see Rafflecopter below).

So who's your favorite book hero? Do you have a favorite in the Wicked Lovers series?  I've personally never read the series, even though it's on my to-read list, and I'm sure I'm not the only one with a to-read list that'd take me clear into 2016 even if I read a book a day...

I'm not sure I have a favorite book hero, to be honest. There are so many whom I love for different qualities. Honestly, though, even though it's not a romance, I would have to say that Peeta Mellark from the Hunger Games trilogy would have to be the one I'd pick, if I had to pick one. Why? Because his love is utterly accepting and unconditional. He harbors no illusions about Katniss, nor does he expect anything in return. So many heroes would be resentful and start treating her badly because she didn't return his feelings at first, and that childish male tantrum gets old, y'know? He just goes right on loving her, warts and all, and is realistic about his role in the greater scheme of things.

However, he also drastically underestimates his role in Katniss' life, which is such a humble thing to do. Wise and humble. I suppose that's what I'd take from him.

***

Ours to Love

Wicked Lovers, Book 7

Between two brothers…
Xander Santiago spent years living it up as a billionaire playboy. Never given a chance to lead his family business in the boardroom, he became a Master in the bedroom instead. His older brother inherited the company and worked tirelessly to make it an empire. But while the cutthroat corporate espionage took its toll on Javier, nothing was as devastating as the seemingly senseless murder of his wife. It propelled him into a year of punishing rage and guilt…until Xander came to his rescue.

Comes an irresistible woman …
Eager to rejuvenate Javier’s life, Xander shanghais him to Louisiana where they meet the beautiful London McLane. After surviving a decade of tragedy and struggle, London is determined to make a fresh start—and these sexy billionaire brothers are more than willing to help. In every way. And London is stunned to find herself open to every heated suggestion…and desperately hoping that her love will heal them.

And inescapable danger …
But a killer with a hidden motive is watching, on a single-minded mission to destroy everything the Santiago brothers hold dear, especially London. And as fear and desire collide, every passionate beat of her heart could be her last.

***

See? Who wouldn't want this on their to-read list? There's a virtual signing going on for this book as well as the first book of the series. You can find it here.


I'm also giving away a $10 gift card to Naughty Nights Press to one lucky winner. Just tell me in the comments who your favorite romance book hero is, and why. The giveaway runs from May 7 to May 12, and I'll announce my winner before the 15th.  So good luck, and have fun hopping!


Side note: We have a lot of fun discussions on my Facebook fan page. I also sometimes use it to crowdsource future posts. So if you want to keep in the loop, or even be mentioned on TPF, make sure to give my Facebook fan page a like and follow my updates!

Friday, May 3, 2013

To Blog, or Not to Blog...

I haven't been blogging lately because the few minutes I can squeeze in writing in-between everything else, I've done that instead of blog. In the long run, this blog is pointless if I'm not continuing to publish books. Sure, my viewership has suffered a little, according to the numbers, but I'm not worried. I have plenty of time to build it up again, and I'm fervently hoping that after school ends for me in November, things won't be so insane around here.

But when it comes down to it, I sit down to blog and my mind goes blank. What to write about? The best advice to succeed in blogging --and most of life-- is to just be genuine. My passion happens to be helping people to be better writers. I'm not quite the touchy-feely type about it, though. I'm more the, "You wanna be a better writer? You wanna see your stories up on the shelf at bookstores? Then quitcherbellyachin' and work!" 

Not a lot of people like that. But honestly, I think we need more of that than the, "Oh, but not everyone can be a great writer!" So what? Everyone can learn to be better, and the craft of writing is no less worthy of our best.

I literally spent an extra ten years developing my style, learning style nuance from my favorite authors, and exploring a genre that was true to myself despite the stigma attached to it. And writing in a new genre meant starting over from scratch. Ten extra years. Does it fill me with loathing and resentment to see these wannabe hacks throwing their crap on Amazon and calling it publishable? You betcha.

Not everyone loves the English language nor respects the publishing industry as much as I --and others like me-- do. Fine. But everyone who wants to be an author damn well better, and it better show in the quality of their writing.

Sometimes, though, I don't feel like handing over all of the knowledge I worked so hard to gain. I'd rather be using that knowledge to write more lovely stories for people to enjoy. And I get tired, and stressed-out by my mundane life. If to mine own self I must be true, then I'll choose writing every time.

Maybe next week I'll have more blogging time.

Ciao,








Side note: We have a lot of fun discussions on my Facebook fan page. I also sometimes use it to crowdsource future posts. So if you want to keep in the loop, or even be mentioned on TPF, make sure to give my Facebook fan page a like and follow my updates!