Crescendo Cover Art and Super-sales!

Happy Memorial Day, folks! I've got such exciting things to share with you today that I'm caving in and putting Monday's post up several hours early.

First, it wouldn't be Memorial Day without a sale, and All Romance Ebooks is holding a crazy one. They're offering a 50% rebate (in store credit) on all purchases made on their site this weekend. Yes--every single book. And unlike the 50% off sales at Fictionwise, publishers and authors will still receive their full royalties on the purchases you make, so it's sweet for us as well as for you. Looking for some shopping ideas? You could purchase Counterpoint and use your rebate to get Anchored for just $0.95 ;-)

To help you take extra advantage of the sale there this weekend, I've put Sublime on sale for $1.97, which is already 36% off. After the rebate, it'll cost you just $.99! That's a two-thirds discount off the regular cover price.

Speaking of covers, let me show you the one for Crescendo: Book II of Song of the Fallen. I am so excited about this gorgeous work of art I could squeal. Er, have squealed. May yet be squealing for some time ;-D

You can click to embiggen that, but if you really want to enjoy Nathie's artistic talents in full size, then click to embiggen this full-spread one instead:

Sexy, huh? I don't know about you, but I can't wait until October 7, when I get to hold this shiny new paperback in my hands :-D

Chat and Win with Savannah Chase

EDIT: My apologies, folks--I forgot to mention that one lucky commenter will win a copy of Savannah's new book, Unwrap Me!


Let's all give a warm welcome this morning to award-winning erotic romance author Savannah Chase! She's here to answer some questions and share a steamy excerpt from her latest release. As always, let's begin with some cover art and a blurb.

Makayla has the perfect boyfriend and a fulfilling job. A hot, sinful threesome would make things perfect for this prim and proper librarian. An upcoming anniversary provides the ideal opportunity, if only she can gather the nerves to ask. Confessing could bring her ultimate pleasure, or end her relationship forever.

Is the risk of losing one man really worth a forbidden fantasy?


Sound fun? You can purchase Unwrap Me at Amazon.


And now I'll turn the floor over to Savannah for her interview and excerpt, beneath the jump.

Give Me Your Worst and Win a Book!

I have a missing guest again, so I'm pinch-hitting today, and it's short and sweet. I'm on the hunt for a spectacular insult. Funny, playful, not too cruel. And the real challenge? It can't be more than 129 characters long.

What's this for, you ask? Well, I'm coming up on my 8,000th tweet on Twitter. I've started a little tradition of using every thousandth tweet to insult my dear friend and writing buddy Kari Gregg. After seven 129-character insults, I'm running out of ideas. I need help. And quickly, too--I'm only 25 tweets away.

So, leave your worst (or your best!) in the comments. Nothing hateful. We're all adults here, so I don't think I need to mention the things that are Not Okay, but do please avoid the Not Okay things. In-jokes are fine, as gay erotic romance is a pretty small community and we all know each other's secrets here anyway.

Best insult gets a prize--winner's choice of an ebook from my backlist, OR a free copy of the upcoming Where He Belongs, OR some neat swag (t-shirt or tote bag or notebook or mug or the like, domestic winners only for the swag).

So have fun, and have at it! 

Crescendo Sneak Peek #4

Good morning, folks! Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was spent mostly in the world of Crescendo, and I'm happy to report that for the first time, I can look into the not-too-distant future and see the end of this story. If I had to guess, I'd say I've got ten to fifteen thousand words left to write. I may actually get it done by the end of the month :-D

Since I'm still very much in head-down / ass-in-chair mode trying to finish this novel, I don't have too much spare time, so I thought I'd share with you all a short excerpt from a bit of Crescendo I wrote today. That's beneath the jump. But first, one quick bit of news:

I'm all giddy about having finally figured out how to send a newsletter! So, my first-ever newsletter went out on Friday night. If you'd like to get in on the fun, you can read it here (the link is at the bottom of the page), and subscribe to future ones if you'd like. There was a big fat exclusive excerpt from Break and Enter in there, and I gave away an autographed copy of Counterpoint to one lucky subscriber. I'll have an exclusive excerpt and a giveaway in the next newsletter too, so don't miss your chance to win!

And now today's Crescendo excerpt, beneath the jump. Also, a random hottie (SFW) for the heck of it. Because you can never have too many random hotties.

A Sexy New Boy and a Story to Go w/Him!

Happy Friday, folks! I've been tumbling way more than is probably strictly healthy lately, but in the process I came across this little gem of inspiration. (Which you may have seen, oh, eight or twelve times if you follow me on Twitter.) I named him Ben. I think you'll rather like him. (Photo linked rather than posted to respect the photographer's copyright.)

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z67/designscene/designscenealbum/ChrisMcNallybyPaulReitz03.jpg

Look at him, just braced up against that wall, waiting for his whipping like a good boy. He's nervous, but he's not gonna run. And I'll tell you why beneath the jump.

Crescendo Sneak Peek #3

My scheduled guest couldn't make it today, so I thought I'd share a bit of my WIP with you all. It's hitting the 70,000-word mark today and will hopefully be wrapped up nice and tidy by the end of the month (or my editor will make me scrub toilets, yikes!). I've basically been eating, sleeping. and breathing Crescendo these last several weeks, and I'm very excited about it lately. I hope you will be too :-)

Before I get to the excerpt, just a few quick bits of administrava:

• It's not too late to enter the drawing for a free print copy of Sublime. Just pop on over to my last blog entry and leave a comment with your thoughts on the subject of pricing, which I discussed in the entry. I'll draw a winner on Friday. If you're having trouble leaving a comment (some people have mentioned this), just drop me an email or contact me via my website comment form instead.
  
  
• Storm Moon Press has added one more awesome incentive to pre-order Where He Belongs: you'll get to download the book a full 48 hours before the official release date! Of course you'll still be entered in the drawing for all the cool prizes too, so go, order! It's only $1.99 :-)
  
  
• Counterpoint is at last for sale as a Barnes and Noble Nook book, horray!
  
  
• The Anchored trade paperback is currently on sale at Amazon for $12.75. I don't know how long that sale will last--the last one disappeared in less than a day--so if you're interested and have been waiting for the price to drop, now's the time.

And now what you came for, beneath the jump.

Slave Auction Recap w/Photos, and a Question/Contest for You All

At last, the promised slave auction recap is here! But, I'd like to begin with a question and contest first, if you don't mind.

You may be aware that I self-published Sublime: Collected Shorts. It was a little experiment for me in managing a title and learning what goes in to putting things out on my own. Currently, I publish the paperback through Createspace, which is convenient and requires no up-front costs but makes the per-copy costs pretty high, hence the $6.95 sale price on the paperback now. That strikes me as a lot to ask people to spend on a 14K book they can get digitally for $2.99.

So, I've been looking at moving the print book to Lightning Source. I'd be able to sell the book a lot cheaper, at maybe $4.50 or $4.99. The problem with this is that up-front costs at Lightning Source are significant for a low-volume title, which the paperback will almost certainly be (though the ebook sells quite steadily, paperback sales in this genre tend to represent no more than 10% of total sales).

What's this got to do with you, you ask? Well, I'm wondering how the pricing would affect your buying habits. If you wanted Sublime, but didn't buy it in print at $6.95, was it because of the price or because you simply prefer ebooks? Would you buy it in print at $4.99? Would you be more likely to buy it at $4.50, or does that $.49 make no real difference? Would you buy it in print even if you already have it in ebook if it's affordable enough? What if you could get an autographed copy ordered directly through my website for the same $4.50 or $4.99, shipping included? Or does the autograph not terribly matter and, for convenience's sake, you'd just as soon order it through Amazon or B&N?

I know that's a lot of questions, but I'd be most grateful if you'd answer as many as you're able in the comments. This'll be a huge help to me and may well be the deciding factor in whether or not I can bring the print copy of Sublime to you at a more affordable price. Also, to say thank you for your input, I'll be giving away an autographed print copy of Sublime to one random commenter (be sure to leave your email address!).

But enough of that. You're here for the slave auction results, right? Beneath the jump, then, complete with photos.

Porn Friday, & Pre-Order and Win with Where He Belongs!

Yeah, so Blogger was broken half the day and now I'm exhausted and also feeling really pretty sideways-awful, so my witty, clever blog post about last weekend's sale of Aleks Voinov and Kari Gregg is getting put off once again. But once again, I shall pacify you with peen.

And also a quick cool bit of news. Where He Belongs is now available for pre-order at Storm Moon Press, and you can read a sample vignette from the collection there for free. WHB is only $1.99, and you definitely want to pick it up through the publisher because they're raffling off three cool prizes at random to folks who place an order through SMP before the July 1 release date:

• A one-of-a-kind autographed poster of the hot hot cover art
  
  
• A limited edition trade paperback of Where He Belongs (far less than 100 of these will be printed)
  
  
• A $5 gift certificate to the Storm Moon Press store

EDIT: One more bonus for the pre-order folks: you get access to the book 48 hours before anyone else! So as long as you pre-order directly through Storm Moon Press, you can download your copy on June 29!

Awesome, huh? Each copy you pre-order for $1.99 gets you an entry into the raffle for the prizes. And of course on release day you'll be able to download it in the file format of your choice.

But enough about raffles and buying my books (you know you want to ;-p). You're here for the peen. So, some truly spectacular (and vaguely frightening) ones, beneath the jump. Super, super NSFW, obv. I'd say click to embiggen, but I'm pretty sure it's not necessary for these ;-p

Chat and Win with Author Rachel Brimble!

Morning folks! Today we have All Things Romantic Suspense author Rachel Brimble stopping by to chat, and she's giving away an autographed copy of her romantic comedy The Sharp Points of a Triangle to one lucky commenter!

But her latest release is Getting It Right this Time, and before I turn the floor over to Rachel, let's have a looksie at the cover and blurb.

She's back, but this time she’s a mother…intent on protecting her young.

Two years after her husband’s death, Kate Marshall returns home seeking security and stability for her three-year-old daughter. But when her path crosses with ‘the one who got away’…her husband’s best friend, she has to fight the desire to be with him for the sake of further heartbreak for her and her daughter.

A tough, straight talking theatrical agent, Mark Johnston is dangerously handsome, exceedingly rich, irresistibly charming – and branded by the tabloids as one of the UK’s most eligible bachelors. So even though Mark lost the girl of his dreams to his best friend, he finds no hardship in being single. Or so he thought.

Determined not to lose her a second time, Mark has to find a way to convince her they can work.  But can Kate cope with the media interest and ruthless, money-hungry clients surrounding him, being anywhere near her daughter?  Or accept that Mark Johnston is really the family man he claims to be?

And now to the interview, beneath the jump.

Slave Auction Today - Win Aleksandr Voinov & Kari Gregg!

Remember, folks, today from 3 to 4 PM on the Noble Romance Yahoo Chat, I'll be auctioning off author-slaves Aleksandr Voinov and Kari Gregg to the highest bidder(s). Come prepared with with descriptions and/or pictures of what you're willing to sell, beg, borrow, steal, or kidnap to get your hands on these two valuable prizes (well, okay, one valuable prize and Kari :-p).

All the deets are here: http://rachel-haimowitz.blogspot.com/2011/04/noble-launch-party-win-kari-gregg-and.html

Current high bid for Kari Gregg is a used minivan valued at $8,000 and offered by @_slarmstrong. Increases in increments of at least $100, please.

Current high bid for Aleksandr Vashtan is a kidnapped Paul Walker and Michael Fassbender, plus a real-life genetically engineered version of Daniel Halstrom, valued at $5 million. This one will be tough to beat, folks, but I'm sure you can get creative. Especially since the cops might come looking for Paul and Michael . . . Also I've always wanted a private island. And a yacht to take me there. Just sayin' . . .

Hope to see you all at the auction tomorrow, and remember, even if you don't win your own writer, there are lots of other prizes up for grabs!

The Three-Day Novella by Lori Toland

Let's all give a warm welcome today to Lori Toland, who's hear to talk about the origins of Trust in Me, her new release with Loose Id. She'll also be giving out a copy of her book and a $25 gift certificate to one lucky commenter on her blog tour, so be sure to say hello (and remember to include your email address!) for your chance to win.

This cover's a sharp one, folks, so let's begin with that and a blurb.

Tristan Winter's day takes a turn for the worse when his best employee calls in sick. As the only other technical specialist able to step in on such short notice, he takes over what seems like a run of the mill job -- until he runs into his old crush from high school, Jamie Hunter. Ten years after a summer fling left him with a broken heart, Tristan now has a different view of life and love but this time around, will he push away the only man he ever cared about?

Genre:     LGBT Contemporary
Length:     Novella

Let's turn the floor over to Lori now, where she talks about being bitten by the book idea and getting it out on paper like a writer possessed. She's also included a quick little excerpt for your reading pleasure. All the fun beneath the jump.

Running to Sarah Ballance, and Happy Birthday Aleksandr Voinov!

Happy Wednesday, folks! I'm still bouncebouncebouncing like crazy over my hot new cover art for Where He Belongs (and the fact that I sold it, yay!) and the appearance of Anchored in paperback, and on top of everything else, it's my dear friend Aleksandr Voinov's birthday today, so it's been a damn great week. I didn't know Aleks on his last birthday, but now, quite frankly, it's hard to imagine life without him. I'm a better, more disciplined, more motivated writer for having him in my life, and he brings me more joy than I often know what to do with. Nearly every day we share laughter, frustrations, and writing. Heck, we're even sharing a story universe now. So, happy birthday, my dear, and may it be full of all the pleasures and surprises that make life so worth living.

In other fun news, the delightful author Sarah Ballance is here today as part of the All Things Romantic Suspense tour. And she brought her hot hot Run To You cover model with her. So, you know the routine by now. Blurb and cover, coming up.

Mattie James can't pinpoint exactly when she lost control of her life, but the moment she decided to take it back made the front page of the local paper. Desperate to dodge the fallout— and the tabloids—she jumps at the chance to spend an off-season week in a tiny resort community by the sea. Making the trip with her ex-lover is a complication she can live with; coming face to face with a dead woman is not.

The last thing Sheriff Wyatt Reed expected to find on the storm-ravaged beach was a beautiful blonde with a jealous sidekick, but one look at Mattie left him wanting more. Their first date takes an ominous turn when he gets the call that a woman was found murdered. With a killer on the loose and a troubling lack of suspects or motive, Wyatt has to put his feelings aside to focus on the case. But his vow not to become personally involved is shattered when he discovers Mattie's life is on the line, and this time the truth leaves her with a deadly choice . . . and nowhere to run.

Sound interesting? Run to You is available from Noble Romance Press and Amazon.com.

Speaking of interesting, Sarah talks about her boobs and backyard-streaking beneath the jump ;-)

COVER ART!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled no-blog day to share . . . *wipes drool off keyboard* . . . this.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Daniel Halstrom, star of Anchored: Belonging and the upcoming Where He Belongs, a short collection of vignettes releasing July 1 with Storm Moon Press. Click to embiggen; I cannot recommend that highly enough.

This is the cover of Where He Belongs, so the title and my name will be down in the lower left corner soon. Fortunately, my awesome awesome publisher over at Storm Moon gave me permission to post this now before the lettered version is complete :-D I'd have done it a few hours ago, actually, but I Couldn't. Stop. Staring. At. Daniel. Ah well--occupational hazard, I suppose.

If you're feeling like you recognize the style, that's because this was done by the amazing Nathie, the same artist who painted the cover for Counterpoint: Book I of Song of the Fallen, and who will be painting the cover for Crescendo: Book II of Song of the Fallen as well. I feel like the Luckiest Author in the Whole Universe right now.

Oh, and speaking of exciting news? Anchored finally released in print yesterday! :D :D :D You can find it at Amazon (hmm, temporarily sold out at time of posting) or Barnes & Noble (in stock). Sorry about the cover price--I have no control over that--but hopefully if you've been eagerly awaiting the paperback, you'll find it worth the cost. To make it a little less painful for you, if you order one, email me your receipt (metarachel at gmail dot com) and I'll send you some cool Anchored swag.

That's all for now, folks. If I can cease my endless bouncing off the walls, floor, and ceiling, I'll be back tomorrow with the author and lovely lady Sarah Ballance, who'll be discussing Run to You, also of ZOMGHAWT cover fame :D

Crescendo Has a Release Date . . . And a New Home!

It's official, folks, an I'm very excited to be able to say that the Counterpoint sequel, Crescendo: Book II of Song of the Fallen, will release October 7 with Storm Moon Press.

Why not with Guiltless Pleasure, you ask? Unfortunately, GPP's owner is facing some difficult times right now, and the press has had to take a backseat to more important issues. I loved everything about my experience there and am deeply saddened by what's happened. I hope they'll re-open GPP's doors in the not-too-distant future and that I can rejoin them again when the time comes. (You can still read the first five chapters of Counterpoint on their website and purchase Counterpoint through them; they're simply closed to new submissions now.)

That being said, Storm Moon Press has rolled out the red carpet for me, and I'm most impressed by everything I've seen and heard there. They are professional, completely on the ball, and run by some of the nicest and most knowledgeable people you'll ever meet. They offer a beautiful package--they even use the same cover artist GPP used!--some of the best editing in the genre, some of the best royalty rates anywhere, and fair pricing for an upscale/boutique reader experience. They'll also be offering Crescendo for pre-order with some awesome raffle prizes (did someone say a Nook???), so be sure to keep your eyes peeled as release day approaches.

Until then, Happy Monday, my lovelies, and thank you for sharing my joy with me.