Guest Post and Giveaway with Wendy S. Marcus: Adding Diversification To My Discoverability Strategy

Wendy S. Marcus

The Hot Pink Typewriter is pleased to welcome talented friend and author Wendy S. Marcus.

The topic of Wendy's guest post is discoverability.

 

How do we, as readers, find new books and authors to love? And how do we, as writers, find new readers?

 

Wendy writes hot contemporary romances with strong heroes, feisty heroines and lots of laughs...a combination I truly enjoy.

 

Thanks so much for visiting with us, Wendy!

Hi Tina!

Thank you for hosting my visit to The Hot Pink Typewriter! I’m so happy to be here! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Wendy S. Marcus and I write medical romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon under the tagline: These aren’t your Aunt Mabel’s medical romances. They’re hot, sexy and fast-paced.

Like most authors, my interest in writing romance grew out of a love of reading it. And I still remember the book responsible for my ongoing romance addiction, Home to Copper Mountain by Rebecca Winters. A Harlequin Superromance I picked out of a box of old paperbacks at a school fundraiser about eight years ago.

I bet most authors don’t put yard sales high on their list of ways to improve their discoverability ~ how readers find their books among the millions of books available. No, authors need to be proactive in marketing. So we flock to places like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads. We toss ourselves out into social media desperately trying to make our message heard, “Buy my book. Buy my book,” while not actually screaming those offensive words at the risk of coming off egocentric and turning away potential readers.

We spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on advertising, websites, and contest prizes. We spend $7.00 USD to mail $5.00 books to readers across the globe. (Or maybe that’s just me who does that!) But you get my point.

With the glut of traditionally published, small-press published and self-published books available for purchase (and for free) on the Internet it’s no longer enough to write a good book. You have to find a way for readers to discover your book, read it, and hopefully review it - preferably with five beautiful stars that will gain the attention of other readers. And so on and so on and so on.

It’s with expanding my readership in mind that I’ve decided to add diversification to my discoverability strategy.

I’m thrilled to have my fourth and fifth books for Harlequin Mills and Boon’s medical romance line out in January 2013 (U.S. e-book editions releasing on February 1, 2013), Craving Her Soldier’s Touch, book #1 in the Piermont Sisters duet, and Secrets of a Shy Socialite, book #2. While both books are connected, each is written to stand alone. And my sixth book, Tempting Nurse Scarlet, book #6 in the upcoming NYC Angels continuity, will be out in May 2013. But after that, with six published books in my backlist, I am branching out in search of new readers.

I’ve already completed a short story for an upcoming edition of The Mammoth Book of… anthology, due to be published in late 2013. And I’m currently working on a book with a new publisher, Entangled Publishing, that I am very excited about, which should also be published in late 2013. Will I write more books for Harlequin Mills and Boon? I hope so. But for now my focus is on diversification and finding new readers.

Is this the best way to go? Should all authors diversify? Or is it better to stick with one publisher and develop your brand? I don’t have the answer. Maybe Tina will have me back for a follow up post in a year or so!

So what’s your take on discoverability? If you’re a reader, where do you go to look for books? What makes you choose one book over another?

If you’re a writer, what do you do to make your books stand out?

Two lucky commenters will be randomly chosen, via random.org, to win one copy of Craving Her Soldier’s Touch or Secrets of a Shy Socialite, winner’s choice.


SECRETS OF A SHY SOCIALITE 

CRAVING HER SOLDIER'S TOUCH

To find out more about me or my books:

 

Visit my website.



Find me on Facebook.

 

Tweet with me on Twitter.

 

Talk books with me on Goodreads.

Tempting the Billionaire Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is.... Christy McKellen!

Congratulations, Christy! To claim your prize, please contact Jessica Lemmon's publicist at: jihan.antoine

@hbgusa.com

 

Happy Reading :-)

Q&A with Author Jessica Lemmon

Join me in welcoming debut author Jessica Lemmon to the hot seat. Jessica is discussing her brand new book, TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE, which has just released this month, and she is giving away a free copy to one lucky reader!

Crickitt Day needs a job . . . any job. After her husband walks out on her, she's determined to re-build her life and establish a new career. When swoon-worthy billionaire Shane August hires her as his assistant, she jumps at the chance to prove herself. Despite her growing attraction to her boss, she vows to keep things strictly professional. No flirting. No kissing. Definitely no falling in love...

Shane August is all business, all the time. He's a self-made man who's poured his heart and soul into his company, and he'd never allow himself to get involved with an employee. Then he hires sweet, sexy Crickitt-and he can't keep his mind or his hands off her. But no matter how much he wants Crickitt, Shane fears that painful secrets from his past will always come between them. With fate working against them, can these two lonely hearts learn that sometimes mixing business with pleasure is the perfect merger?

AMAZON || B&N


Hi Jessica, and thanks so much for joining us today. Can you tell us a little about your debut novel, TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE?

Hi, Olivia! Thank you so much for having me! Here’s my one-liner: An all-business billionaire learns there’s more to life than a bottom line when he hires his sweet and sexy personal assistant.

What was your inspiration behind this book? 
After forgetting to wear my wedding ring, I spent the entire day rubbing my fingers together (have you ever done that?). I was at such a loss without it! I envisioned a woman, divorced, and crying in a bar. Crickitt Day was born.

Is there a scene or character in your book that you are particularly fond of?

I love the scene where Shane stumbles upon Crickitt crying in her office. Like when he approached her at the bar, he simply can’t help but console her. He’s trying to convince himself to walk away, then thinks, “Ah, hell” right before he embraces her. This, I think, is who Shane is. He’s kind; he cares, and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t deny his feelings for this woman. 

Can you describe your writing process? Do you have a daily routine?

My writing process is like me: consistently inconsistent. ;-) I love to write, and tend to become obsessed with whatever project I’m immersed in. As far as routine goes, even though I don’t do “exactly” the same things each day, I know I’m fresher in the morning. I like to be done by dinner and unwind at night.

How do you balance social media and promotion with your writing schedule?

I’m working on that! I have an iPad so it allows me to hop on Twitter and Facebook several times a day. I check in at mealtimes and have my phone close by for responses. I love to interact, so I probably check it too much!

Can you tell us about your journey toward publication?

It started in January 2010 when I was sure the (first) manuscript I’d finished was going to sell. It didn’t, so I kept writing and learning. Two and a half years, and seven manuscripts later, I received an offer from my agent. I was so surprised to get a yes! I was ready to hustle for another two and a half years if that’s what it took.

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring writer, what would it be?

WRITE. Write, write, write, write, write! I didn’t get better by beating one manuscript into submission. I started new stories, I wrestled with plots, I found critique partners, I attended workshops... When I did find an agent, I had several books (while not perfect) in my arsenal to rewrite and submit. Nothing is ever dead…well, except for that first manuscript…oy…so bad. LOL

Can you tell us about your next release and what you are working on now?

I’d love to! Hard to Handle is book #2 in the Love in the Balance series and follows Aiden and Sadie’s journey to happily ever after. And if anyone deserves happiness, it’s these two! I’m also working on a series in a town called Eternity Bay. The first book is about a bad boy mansion owner who comes back to town only to find his first love right where he left her…

Thanks so much for joining us today, Jessica! To learn more about Jessica and her debut book TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE, visit her website at www.jessicalemmon.com.

Jessica is giving away a free copy of her book to one lucky recipient, so be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win! 

About Us: Rachel Lyndhurst

It’s great to be here on The Hot Pink Typewriter as a brand new contributor from the UK, and now it’s my turn to sink into The Hot Seat and answer a few probing questions. Here we go ...

How and why did you get involved with The Hot Pink Typewriter?

I was very flattered to be asked if I’d like to contribute to The Hot Pink Typewriter by Victoria James, who I ‘met’ through Entangled Publishing.  I’d been enjoying reading the blog for a while anyway and Victoria is SO nice, it was a no-brainer. I’m so happy to be part of something that has so many talented authors contributing. And it has such a cool name!  

What sub-genre of romance do you write and why?

I write contemporary category-length romances, because that’s what I read mostly and it’s the genre I feel most comfortable with right now. I quite often find myself drawn to wanting to write something historical, but I don’t think I’m experienced enough yet to get everything right with the core romance and also get the historical facts spot on as well. It would seriously lengthen the time it would take to write and time isn’t on my side as it is!  So for now it’s ‘write what you know’ with lots of superyachts, billionaires and glittering lifestyles. Maybe someday I’ll throw caution to the wind and write that sexy 1920s flapper story though … 

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? What prompted this interest?

Not consciously, I spent my childhood wanting to be many things, including a Concorde pilot. My great grandmother taught me to read before I’d even started school, so I think my love of all things bookish started then. I was a voracious reader but I think the writing bug was there somewhere all along even if I didn’t realise it. I wrote silly stories including my friends and our imaginary adventures in the Maggot Club (don’t ask!), and angsty teenage poems ridiculing boys that I fancied rotten. In my twenties the boring old office job improved when a subversive Viz-style comic came into being – it featured a character that looked like my boss quite heavily. I left that job soon after … During a decade working in as an accountant, I began to think how wonderful it would be to become an author instead. Haven’t I been lucky?!

Did contests play a role in your writing journey? If so, in what ways did you find them beneficial? And what, if any, were the drawbacks?

They did in that I entered a number of them along the way, but none of the entries came to anything in the contests. However, after one of the Mills & Boon annual competitions  I was asked to submit something fresh and was sent a signed compliment slip for my next submission. Those were the days before you could send you submission in by email! I wrote the whole book in seven weeks and they hated it, frankly. Undeterred (after excessive weeping and bouts of self-pity), I wrote another book following their guidelines closely and got a generic rejection a long, long time later. That last book had quite a journey itself in the end, but Entangled Publishing turned it into a bestseller: Kidnapped by the Greek Billionaire.

So, I’d say contests are a great way to motivate yourself into actually getting the words down and submitting, but I found them a huge distraction.  I’m easily drawn into obsessions, and contests consume me for the entire duration.  In retrospect if I’d spent the time writing and submitting that I did on checking forums, scouring for news and reading endless commentary on the entire process, I’d have a lot more books published by now.

What point are you currently at in your writing journey?

I’m only at the beginning, but my confidence is growing now that I've had three books published in the last year. I can’t be a total fluke – I can write!

Describe what makes a perfect hero for you. And what makes a perfect heroine?

Now that’s a toughie. There’s not a definitive hero for me, but he’s got to be an alpha male. This means he’s in a position powerful enough to take charge of a situation if necessary and do the right thing. He will be honorable and decent, and for this reason I will allow him the odd moment to be grumpy and even a bit of a jerk, but he always redeems himself.  He must be ridiculously good looking. He will never have a full bushy beard, roll his own cigarettes, or live off welfare.

My perfect heroine must be likeable and have some gumption about her. She won’t be treated like a doormat and it would take a lot to make her cry. She needs to be independent in all respects and isn't afraid to say what she thinks. She is also kind, honest, loyal and hardworking. She will have a vulnerability of some sort though, she’s only human!

What does HEA mean to you?

It means two people  finally recognise that they’re in love and fully intend to spend the rest of their lives together. Obstacles to their happiness have been swept aside and all the nasties they've encountered on their journey to this point have been overcome. Marriage and procreation optional. 

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

So many places. An overheard conversation, news article, photograph, lyric from a song, a vivid dream … Too many places to mention really.

Name your five favorite movies/books, or those that have influenced you the most and how.

The Magic Faraway tree and Famous Five books by Enid Blyton (I’ll count that as two books but there were tons of them!). I devoured these as a child – a proper torch under the bed clothes obsession.  Not only did these books inspire many outdoor adventures in real life, they kicked off a lifelong appreciation of books and love of reading. My own children love them too

.

Reading 1984 by George Orwell changed the way I looked at the world forever.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.  I read this when it was first published and I was a pseudy teenager . You just had to, because everybody else was reading it. It taught me that life is too short to spend reading something that you neither enjoy or understand. Perhaps I should give it another go? Nah!

The Sound of Music . How perfect is this film? Romance between a nun and a count, snowy mountains, evil Nazis, evil new ‘stepmother’  and it’s based on a true story! I still know all the words to all the songs and watch it every time it’s on the telly. It brings back so many happy childhood memories (I’m sure it was on every Christmas when I was growing up). Lovely.

Monty Python's Life of Brian. Possibly a controversial choice but, for me, this is one of the funniest films EVER. And laughing is good for you.

Tell us about your greatest writing challenges and how you work through them.

The promotion side of writing is the most challenging for me. I enjoy it and I know it’s an essential part of the job, but it’s extremely time consuming. The most rewarding thing is when people get in touch and say how much they enjoyed reading my book – that’s simply brilliant.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Leave your ego at the door.

What are your hopes and aspirations for your career?

Lots and lots more books being published, please! And enough royalties to by a villa in Amalfi. :0)

Want to know more? Then please feel free to leave a question in the comments section or visit my website and blog at my website and blog. I love to chat, so don’t be shy!

Thanks once again for visiting The Hot Pink Typewriter today. :0)

Favourite Hero Archetypes: By Victoria James

Wow, what a dry title, eh?  Sorry, I'll do my best to make the post a bit more lively ;-)

As I'm plotting out a proposal for Book #6 for Entangled (I had to pinch myself and actually double-check that number) I realized I tend to gravitate to certain types of hero archetypes.  I've written the Alpha (but I find that type quite broad, because all of the heroes I write are all Alpha's in their own way), The Bad-Boy, The Protector, and The Charmer.  I don't really have a favourite yet.  I think The Charmer would probably be my least favourite if I had to choose, because I do tend to have a soft-spot for the brooding, wounded hero, and that type rarely turns out to be a carefree charmer.  Though Hugh Grant movies do make a very good case for loving The Charmer archetype.

But there are more archetypes that I love to read about and hopefully write about one day.  The list below is really broad and general, and of course, there are so many other traits that can fall under each category, but it's a quick way to group them.  Sometimes, I find lists like these can spark ideas if you're just at the starting point and don't have a clear idea of what type of characters you want to write about yet.

Some of the most popular Hero Archetypes:

The Alpha (and I think Alpha traits can also be found in any of the others)
The Bad-Boy
The Protector
The Charmer
The Wounded Hero
The Loner
The Professor
The Best Friend
The Action Hero

What about you?  Do you have a favourite type to write about?  Is it the same type that you like to read about?

Aimee Duffy Giveaway Winners!

After a highly-technical random selection process involving pieces of paper and a bowl, we're proud to announce our 'Aimee Duffy Giveaway' winners....

Huge congratulations to Ami Weaver and Jen Drogell!

A copy of Isle of Sensuality is awaiting your attention. Please contact Aimee via her email at aimeeduffy11@gmail.com and she will guide you as to what to do next.

Thank you to everyone who read and commented on Aimee's interview and for making her feel so welcome.

Q&A and giveaway with Aimee Duffy!

Aimee Duffy is the author of three novels, the second of which – Isle of Sensuality – I am currently immersed in. Aimee has a fresh and engaging style of writing, a wonderful descriptive voice and an ability to write poignant and heart-wrenching moments beautifully. This page-turner has me itching to see what happens to the hero and heroine, Jake and Caitlyn, and I’m already rooting for their HEA.

So without further ado, please welcome the lovely Aimee to the hot seat. At the end you'll be able to find out about her giveaway!

Can you tell us a little something about Aimee – who is she, where does she live, what does she do?

Hmmm what to say. Well, I’m from dreary Scotland where the sun rarely shines and there’s never a water shortage. Those of you who follow me on Twitter/Facebook will know I have no self-discipline when it comes to hotties (especially the fanged kind), resisting a stunning pair of shoes (who can?), or procrastination.

Describe yourself in three words.

I’d love to say shy, quiet and reserved, but those who know me would never believe it. I’ll go with bonkers, incorrigible and chatty.

What genre would you place your book/s into?

Category romance (on the steamy side).

Can you tell us a little about your published books (including who they are published by)?

The Monster of Fame is book 1 in The Price of Fame series. It takes place on a reality signing show. The heroine, Anna, enters the competition in the hopes of paying off the debt her father left them with. Miles, the hero, is a celebrity judge on the opposing team and doesn’t think Anna is strong enough, or has what it takes to win.

Isle of Sensuality is set on an island off the coast of Rio. Jake, the hero, and Caitlyn, the heroine, are stars on a movie they’re there to shoot. Although they know they can never be together long term, they can’t keep away from each other.

Never Say Never, book 2 in The Price of Fame series is due for release in April. Sander, one of the judges from the show, needs a date to save face at his ex-fiancé and ex best friend’s engagement party. Chloe needs a better job to help pay the bills and care for her mother who has dementia. Sander offers her the chance to get into the studio and in exchange she has to pretend to be his girlfriend. The lines they draw get blurred along the way.

All three are published by Beachwalk Press.

Did it take a long time to get your first book published?

I received an R & R from one publisher a few months after I finished TMOF. Although I agreed with, and made some of the changes, I wasn’t keen on the rest so I sent it to Beachwalk after hearing good things about them. They offered me a contract a few weeks later.

Can you tell us one positive thing and one negative thing about being a published author?

Positive: It’s a dream come true.

Negative: Instead of worrying about never being published, I’m worrying that I’ll run out of ideas.

Have you ever had a book make a big impact on you? What was it and why?

Of Mice and Men. It made me cry and it’s the only book I’ve read over ten times.

Do real people or situations inspire your books?

The X-Factor inspired TMOF, but Jake and Caitlyn aren’t similar to anyone I know.

Your current release is Isle of Sensuality. Caitlyn has an extremely upsetting past. Has that strengthened her character or weakened it?

She thinks it made her weak, but she had to be strong for her younger sister and I think she has more backbone than she gives herself credit for.

What are three things that make Jake perfect for Caitlyn? What two things make him bad for her?

He’s a nice guy, caring and wouldn’t push her to do anything she didn’t want to. On the flip side he has commitment issues and doesn’t want to take responsibility for anyone ever again.

What advice would you give to a new writer? 

Keep at it! Rome wasn’t built in a day : )

What can we expect from you in the future?

The rest of The Price of Fame series (two more after Never Say Never), my wild heiress and sexy Spanish hero, and I have a few more plotted out. Need to type faster ; )

Thank you so much for having me ladies. 

Ah, it was an absolute pleasure, Aimee! Thanks so much for joining us.

Aimee is giving away TWO copies of Isle of Sensuality here on the Hot Pink Typewriter. All you have to do is comment to be in with a chance. Two randomly-selected, lucky readers will be announced tomorrow!

If you'd like to find out more about Isle of Sensuality, here are the links: 

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

If you would like to follow Aimee, you can find her via the links below:

Aimee Duffy's Website

Facebook

Twitter

Good luck, everyone! 

What’s between your covers? by Jennifer Faye

*shakes head and grins* It’s not what you’re thinking.

With this being my first post of the new year, it’s still the season when people are making goals for the upcoming year. I must admit I'm not much of a New Year's resolution kinda girl. If it's that important to me, I don't need a holiday to get me started. However, there is one goal that I do make for myself each year and I stick with it all year long. Can you guess what it is?

Nope, it's not my writing--too many variables there. And it’s not my word output. I'll give you a hint...I love to read. No, that’s not quite right. I LOVE to read. So I have a yearly book-read-goal. How about you?

What’s between the cover of what you’re reading now?

As I write this, I’m reading a Harlequin Romance. These are NOT your mother or grandmother’s style books. Nope. These are contemporary, fast-paced, emotional, steamy reads with happliy-ever-after's.

As a writer, I can’t imagine not reading. To me it goes hand-in-hand with writing. A writer must refill their creative well not only with real life experiences, but also with all forms of writing from various genres.

Most people read as a form of entertainment, but for a writer it can also provide a learning opportunity. It can be fascinating to observe how other writers develop such powerful emotions on the page or the way they arrange words to provide such a realistic setting that you can feel the breeze on your face and hear the trickling of the creek.

Now, I’m not saying you should copy these talented writers. I’d never advise that.

But I believe the more you read, the more you comprehend what it takes to translate the story in your mind and heart to the page. Because from my observations, one of the biggest challenges for writers is to evoke in the reader the passion and emotion that is present in the writer’s mind.

Believe me, I understand that there are so many hours in a day and everyone has various responsibilities. I just set up my goal on Goodreads and I was really frustrated when I listed 50 books as my 2013 goal. I was so tempted to put 100 or more, but I hate to fail at something. Better to underestimate than have the stress of knowing I’m NOT meeting my goal. And with my debut and a holiday romance out this year, I’m going to busy.

But no matter how busy we get, it’s also important to squeeze in some quality reading time. Sometimes you can double-up on things such as reading in the car, while waiting to pick your child up after school or even my favorite—while riding a stationary bike. Be creative. You’ll be amazed where you can squeeze in a few pages.

However, if you need to justify sneaking off with a good book tell your family it’s your homework. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. It also works for explaining those large book orders that appear on the credit card statement. *G*

So share with us what’s between your covers? And when do you carve time out of your busy life to escape into another world?

Small Towns, Big Stories by Tina Vaughn

Setting is so important. The perfect setting can frame and showcase your characters' strengths and weaknesses. Your setting can add deep layers and meaning to the developing romance, heighten the sense of mystery and danger or accentuate heartwarming and heart-wrenching family dynamics. For me, nothing helps me achieve my writing goals like a small-town setting.

I'm fascinated by small-town dynamics…probably because I spent more than fifteen years as a community newspaper reporter and editor.

I love the dichotomy of citizens' public and private personas and how those differences fuel the gossip and "scandal" in communities, influence both personal and public decisions and, most important, impact personal relationships. These conflicts make for great tension in your writing, especially when they involve a hot hero and strong, sassy heroine.

There are three main reasons I enjoy writing, and reading, romances with small-town settings.

• The small-town setting lends itself to certain tropes and themes I enjoy. Forced proximity, conflict of interest, leaving home, returning home, reunion romances, bad boy/good girl, etc. The list is endless.
• The sense of community. Friends, family, personal history, gossip…I love all the characteristics (good and bad) of small towns and communities.
• Creative freedom. I create fictional towns, which means I'm not bogged down with a lot of research. I have complete control over my own little corner of the world. (The control freak in me loves this.)
  

Do you live in a small town?

Enjoy reading or writing romances with small-town settings? Why?

 

And, since this is my first post of the year, I'll take the opportunity to wish you all a fabulous 2013.

Here's to a successful year!

Lookout for Debut Author Christy McKellen

Congratulations Christy on your debut ‘HER NEW WORST ENEMY’ with Crimson Romance. How exciting! Could you tell us a little about your book?


Thanks so much for having me here today. Her New Worst Enemy is my debut novel, which makes me a brand spanking new author – I still get a thrill writing that!

It’s about a woman who’s recently been dumped by her boyfriend and is mentally in a bad place. She feels she’s been robbed of her long-planned-for future and has hit rock bottom. Now it looks as though her best friend is about to be taken advantage of by a gold-digger and Ellie’s determined to save her from what she perceives to be certain doom. Unfortunately for Ellie (or not so unfortunately as it turns out) the only person that can help is her brother’s best friend, playboy extraordinaire, Gideon DeLancy. As I’m sure you can guess, sparks fly between them!

How thrilling it must be to see your first book in print. Would you mind sharing some details about your path to publication? How long had you been writing before receiving the “Call”? Any major challenges along the way? And definitely let us know your “Call” story. We never get enough of those. J

I’ve been writing for pleasure for years, but I started to get serious about wanting to be published after my second child was born. That was about five years ago now and it’s taken me that long to learn my craft and write the right story and send it to the right person at the right time.

I was at the museum with my three children when I got ‘the call’. Only it wasn’t a call, it was an e-mail. I was wandering around the stuffed animal section while the kids did some colouring and decided to quickly check my e-mails before my husband turned up to meet us. I didn’t for one second expect there to be anything interesting in my in-box, my mind was rather distracted by the enormous stuffed gorilla glaring at me – but there it was, a mail from Jennifer Lawler saying she loved Her New Worst Enemy and wanted to offer me a contract for it. I wandered around in a daze until my husband arrived and all I could do was wave my phone in his face and grin. He took us all out for milkshakes to celebrate. That was a good day.

Do you have a specific writing routine? Daily word count goals? Any quirks?

I don’t have a routine because my writing has to fit around everything else in my life, but I try to get some words down each day. I would love to say I manage 1,000 a day, but I rarely do. I often get a bit of time to write at lunchtime once my youngest has gone for a nap. She’s starting to grow out of that now though. I have a feeling it’s going to be late nights and early mornings from here on in!

For you, what is the most challenging part of writing a book? Beginnings? Middles? Ends? How do you conquer these problem areas?

I don’t usually have a problem with beginnings and ends – I tend to know what I want to write for both of those - but those saggy middles give me gyp sometimes. If I’m stuck on a particular scene, I’ll skip on and write the next thing I’m inspired to write about. That often helps me untangle what isn’t working in the previous scene and I can go back to it, unpick it and start again. Knowing what’s going to happen is a big help.

If there was one thing you wished you’d have known before you got published, what would it be?

I never anticipated how much promotion I would need to do. I was aware that publishers don’t have big budgets for book launches, but it didn’t occur to me how much extra writing about the book - and myself - I would need to do to promote it. It’s been great fun though. I feel like I’ve learnt some things about myself in the process J

What’s the title of your next book to hit the shelves? When can we expect it?

The working title is Wanderlust, but I’m pretty sure that’s going to change. It’s about a workaholic and a wanderer stuck together in the South of France. I’ve already written quite a bit of it, but it needs lots more TLC before it can be sent anywhere. Realistically, it’s probably going to be a few months before it’s ready to meet the world.

Thank you for stopping by and sharing with us!

It’s been fun, thanks for having me!


Blurb:

Six months ago Ellie Holdsworthy’s life was all planned out - kids, wedding, happy ever after - until her boyfriend dumped her for another woman. Now her best friend, Penny - an heiress to a small fortune - looks set to run off with a gold-digger, and Ellie is determined to save her from certain doom . Unfortunately, the only person who can help is the one person she’d rather not ask...

Little does Ellie know, persuading her brother’s best friend - commitment phobic, playboy businessman, Gideon DeLancy - to hold an intervention at his beautiful Georgian manor would be the easy part. Keeping her hands off him is a whole other matter. 

Gideon doesn’t intend to fall for his friend's snarky sister, and he sure as hell doesn’t expect their weekend to develop into a full-on sex-fest. When passion takes a strangle-hold, their differences don’t seem to matter. After all, a torrid weekend affair should be the easiest thing in the world to walk away from, so why are they finding it so difficult...?

 

Buy Links:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / itumes

 

About the author:

Formerly a Video and Radio Producer, Christy now spends her time as either a slave to her children or her muse. When she’s not writing spicy romance, she can be found stomping around the South West of England, glomming her to-be-read pile or escaping from real life with her rather delicious husband. 

 

Christy loves to hear from readers.

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