May 13th, 2013 Happy Spring, my blossoms! Hope you and yours are feeling fine and frisky, because I certainly am. Could it be because I have so much exciting news? For instance...
Pennyroyal Green $1.99 Sale!! Every single book in the Penyroyal Green series is on sale for $1.99 at every e-book retailer—Amazon, Barnes & Noble, you name it!! That includes big reader favorite WHAT I DID FOR A DUKE (An Amazon Best Book of 2011),I KISSED AN EARL (which made the USA TODAY list just a few weeks ago!!!!),A NOTORIOUS...
One of the best ways to make your story believable is to use real places to locate the action and the real names of restaurants and streets.Actually going there, of course, is the best way to make that happen.Or using places you went to at some other time in your life.
In AGAINST THE EDGE, the hero, Ben Slocum, who also appeared in AGAINST THE SUN and AGAINST THE ODDS, lives and works in Houston.Originally, I chose that location because my husband and I lived in Houston for several months.I got to know my way around, know the restaurants and shopping, became familiar with the atmosphere of the city.Which is amazingly small-town, considering the population.
I felt comfortable there and when I spread open my AAA Auto Club map back in Montana and started to write, the street names were all familiar, the parks and airports, stirring memories of places we had been.
I truly believe there are locations you can’t write about without being there.For me that was Europe.Until I actually traveled... [More]6 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
News from author Susan Lyons
Happy April!
As usual, I’m juggling balls! Or, rather, manuscripts.
The third Dirty Girls Book Club book (working title, Bound to be Dirty) is due April 30. It’s written and I’ve been revising like crazy, digging deeper into my characters. I’m amazed by writers who work through from beginning to end and then it’s done. For me, reaching the end is really just the beginning. If you know what I mean. I’m sure some of you can identify and others thing I’m just plain nuts (which isn’t entirely wrong...).
I’ve also been working on page proofs for the Caribou Crossing series stories that come out in July, August, and September. And starting to work on promo for Dare to be Dirty, which comes out in July.
Yes, I’ve been keeping busy. And April will be even more intense, as I continue revising and polishing Bound to be Dirty. I’m looking forward to it being finished, though I know I’ll miss the characters once I’m not living with them every day
My schedule doesn’t give me much free time, but I’m trying to keep up with exercise and also post to my Facebook page. I hope you’ll visit...
Amanda Scott and her Scottish historicals and now available as e-books
Good morning,
Just a note to let you know that seven of Amanda Scott's older Scottish historicals and five Regency-era historicals are now available in electronic versions. Amazon, Apple, Sony, and Kobo all began showing them yesterday. Barnes & Noble will have them up soon, and the shorter Regencies will follow in a couple of weeks (all of them). The titles available now are the following:
Border Bride Border Fire Border Storm Highland Fling Highland Secrets Highland Treasure Highland Spirits The Bawdy Bride Dangerous Illusions Dangerous Games Dangerous Angels Dangerous Lady
Enjoy and Suas Alba!
Amanda
THE LAIRD'S CHOICE, ISBN 978-1-455-51435-9, FOREVER, December, 2012 AVAILABLE NOW!!
HIGHLAND LOVER, ISBN 978-0-446-57432-7, FOREVER, GRAND CENTRAL, April 2012 HIGHLAND HERO, ISBN 978-0-445-57430-3, FOREVER, GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING, Oct 2011 LADY'S CHOICE (Warner Books, 2006), now available as an eBOOK!
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.amandascottauthor.com <http://www.amandascottauthor.com/>
I think I was probably born to be a romance writer. As far back as I can remember I’ve been in love with love and the notion of soul mates—that there’s a perfect partner, a One True Love for each of us, someone who will view us through love’s rose-colored lenses, seeing through to our inner beauty be we thin or fat, pretty or plain, calm or cranky. Small surprise, I grew up eating, breathing, and dreaming fairytales. Cinderella and Prince Charming, Snow White and Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty and Pr—
Well, you get the picture.
Flash forward several decades…My fascination with romance and fairytales is as strong as ever, and I’m far from alone. From ABC’s uber popular “Once Upon a Time” to movies such as “Snow White and the Huntsman,” fairytales are enjoying almost unprecedented modern day popularity. It’s as though a curse has been lifted and suddenly we all have permission to believe again—in right overcoming might, in True Love triumphing over not only evil but lesser emotions, and in the imminent attainability of Happily Ever After, whatever that may mean for you.
What is sexy? The eternal question. As romance writers we should know. But I will tell you, even I forget sometimes. So after my editor told me to let my hair down and hit my love scene again, I went on a pilgrimage to answer this question. Here’s what I found. The big secret is… (sorry Mr. Gump, I’m gonna twist your words a bit but…) Sexy is as Sexy does.That’s right, the big thing that separates Bombshells from Mousey Marms is attitude.Nothing more. Seriously. Follow me for a minute, I’ll prove it.
In today’s society we are more bombarded with sex than ever before. Commercials about ED fill the airways letting us all know just how important this aspect of life is. But has this in your face approach caused us to become numb to it? Where did the sexy part of life go?
Back in the 50’s the TV couldn’t show a man and woman shared a bed, (think I love Lucy) Women were taught how to be sexy on the QT. Mothers taught their daughters. Life magazine even ran a spread in 1937 dedicated to teaching a woman...
Registrations are now being accepted for Young Writers of the Lost Horse, a writing and book arts conference for children and young adults, sponsored by Lost Horse Press and the East Bonner County Free Library District. The conference will take place on 22 and 23 March 2013 in the Rude Girls Room of the Sandpoint Library. Creative writing—both poetry and prose—performance art, and book arts workshops will be taught by Ann Huston, Catherine Johnson, Brent Lewis, and Christine Holbert. A student/faculty reading and pizza party will conclude the conference. Public, private, or home-schooled students in grades 5 through 12 who live in Bonner County are invited to register for this FREE event. Registration forms may be found at the Sandpoint Library.
For additional information, please contact Lost Horse Press at 255.4410, email losthorsepress@mindspring.com or check online at www.losthorsepress.org. Registration forms and additional information are also available at all branches of the East Bonner County Library. This project is made possible by generous donations from the Marilynne Robinson Young Writers Fund, Sandpoint Library, and Lost Horse Press.
Lost Horse Press and the East Bonner County Library established the Marilynne Robinson Young Writers Fund to...
The song may say Life is a Highway, but I’ve found my life has had so many ups and downs that it often feels more like a roller coaster. As I write this, I just worked my last day at the day job I held for thirty-seven years. (Yes, I was a baby when I started there!) I’m looking forward to being a full-time writer now and working at what I love to do.
So…the upside today, no more stress-filled day job, no more drama with co-workers, no more getting up to an alarm clock, and time to write more of the stories playing out in my head. The downside…no steady paycheck, the stress of having to produce more stories to make some money to offset the loss of that paycheck, and to top it all off…I got a rejection in my inbox this morning.
Rejection is a part of this business we call writing. My skin has toughened over the years, but I can’t lie, every rejection still hurts, even the ones that say, “you have a lovely, fluid and engaging voice” which this one said. I know every project won’t work for every...
As a writer, I am always looking for new ideas. But I often find that my past experiences can be an important part of the story. Have you ever spent time in the desert?
Being born in Bakersfield, California, which is close to the Great Mojave Desert, I've been in and around the desert a number of times over the years. The hottest I've ever been was a hundred twenty two degrees in Phoenix, Arizona. I'll never forget what it felt like, how difficult it was just to breathe. In that kind of brutal climate, there's no escape from the heat.
Mostly I visited the desert in the spring, a beautiful time of year. I made a point to stay away when the temperatures started to climb.
In writing AGAINST THE ODDS, I drew from old memories of the heat and the dryness, the vast emptiness of the landscape. Once I narrowly missed being bitten by a rattlesnake, and it was terrifying! All those snippets of adventure, of traveling through the arid ground, scrub brush and mesquite helped me in writing the book.
In AGAINST THE ODDS, Sabrina Eckhart receives an inheritance...
December 11th, 2012 Greetings, my turtledoves! If you're like me, t'is the season to find excuses to buy as many books as possible— for everyone on my list AND myself. ;) (Though finding time to settle down with one might be a bit of a challenge at the moment—don't want to get too engrossed and burn the cookies, now.) And because it's my sacred duty to alert you to ways to support your rabid reading habit: Amazon made WHAT I DID FOR A DUKE one of their Top Holiday Deals!! It's only 99 cents!! At Barnes & Noble, too!! And...
s many books as possible— for everyone on my list AND myself. ;) (Though finding time to settle down with one might be a bit of a challenge at the moment—don't want to get too engrossed and burn the cookies, now.) And because it's my sacred duty to alert you to ways to support your rabid reading habit: Amazon made