Stronghold Now Available on Amazon.com!

HOORAY!

Amazon fixed the problem (and it turns out there were a LOT of authors having it so it was nice to know that it wasn't just me - although it did seem to be mostly indie authors and small publishers having the issue... but I'm not sure I'd find that suspicious if it hadn't been for that petition going around about stuff... anyway, I digress) and Stronghold is now available on Amazon.com!

Very excited!!!!  Remember it's only 99 cents until I get back from vacation so you've got a little over a week to purchase it at the discounted price =)  After that, the price goes up to $2.99.

Please, as ever, if you have a minute leave me a review!  Good, bad (please include constructive criticism ;), I'm dying to know what people think of my first ever standalone full length novel!  Granted, yes, it does have quite a few references to the Venus Rising Quartet, but you absolutely don't have to read those in order to read and enjoy this one =)  So that makes it different from anything I've ever written before.

Also in good news... I submitted Chapter 18 of Marriage Training to Literotica today, so that should come out sometime next week while I'm on vacation =)  I won't be here to blog about it so keep an eye out!

Well Color Me Annoyed

Stronghold was submitted to Amazon last night and I got an email this morning say that it's now available for purchase... but when I clicked on the link it said that the requested web page didn't exist.  And when I tried to search for it on Amazon, it didn't come up as an option.

The webpage that is used to see all my author stuff says it's available...

So I don't know wtf's going on.  I can't help but wonder if it has something to do with the whole Amazon banning erotica thing and picking on indie authors or if it really is just some kind of technical problem going on with their site.  I filled out their contact form and it says they're supposed to get back to me within 24 hours, so here's hoping.

I really will do my best to get this worked out before I go on vacation... and hopefully I don't end up having to hate Amazon.

Keep posted on the blog / twitter for updates.

Editing Mania

So I've got about a third of Stronghold edited at this point, which means I'm right on track to submitting it to Amazon by this weekend =)  YAY!  I love it when I manage to do things on time! hahahaha.  This is also basically a re-read of my work for me and as I'm re-reading it, I'm pretty happy with what I've put together.  There are times when the characters get a little bit frustrating because, of course, without conflict a book is kind of boring, but I really do adore how Angel and Adam turned out and how their story has turned out.  I can't wait to share it with you all =)

I'm working on the next chapter of Marriage Training, which, if I'm very lucky, I will complete and submit by the end of this week.  I hope so, because next week I'm going to be out of town so even if I finish it while I'm out of town I won't be able to submit it until I get back.  So here's hoping I have time to complete both my projects for this week!

I'm also looking forward to getting focused back on the Domestic Discipline Quartet, seeing as I've been looking forward to Cynthia's character ever since the beginning of the books.  She and Wesley crack me up.  And there's a lot of little dramas going on between the other characters as well, things that were basically wrapped up in the last two books but still need that little finishing touch to make the story complete =)  As well as getting a little further into what's going on with Alex and Grace.  Yay!  I've barely been working on that world while I was so focused on Stronghold and I've missed it.  At the moment I'm still aiming to have it out this winter, but I don't know if it will be out before the end of the year or not (I'm guessing not...).  So we'll see!

In the meantime, I'll update later this week once I've submitted Stronghold to Amazon so you can keep an eye out for it!  The first week (the week that I'm away on vacation) it's going to be available for the special price of 99 cents.  After I get back from vacation on November 3rd, the price will be $2.99.

Hope everyone's having a good week and getting excited!

Toy Review: Ben-Gay & some Stronghold stuff

Oh the things I do in the name of research... 

LOL.  So.  I tried the toothpaste after reading about it in a book and I've seen Ben-Gay on sensitive bits in more than one story.  I tried to use my imagination and used it in one of my stories... Office Play, I think.  One of those chapters.  Maybe.  If I'm remembering correctly

I figured it was time to finally get my act together and actually try it out.  Especially because I've been trying some of the more pain-pleasure toys lately, like nipple clamps.  How much worse could Ben-Gay be?

Ok, so... I was kind of in the mood for a little bit of pain/pleasure and I figured "let's do this!"  

Just like the toothpaste, I put the Ben-Gay straight onto my nipples first.  After a couple of seconds it started to tingle and it felt rather nice, just like the toothpaste, and I got a little overly enthusiastic and decided to test out two other regions that I'd read about - my anus and my clit.  

Tingle tingle tingle BURN.

It's not a slow burn, it's a lot of tingling and then OMGOODNESS it's burning.  A lot.  And it made me hot as hell, not just physically.  Grabbing the hitachi and getting myself off helped, but then I had to sit around for at least another fifteen to twenty minutes, still tingling and burning, before the effects finally melted away.

Later I told hubby about it - this was one I didn't want to do with him cuz... well, I thought he would think it was weird.  He was amused.  And a little disappointed that he didn't get to help out with this one. Sometimes I think I bring out his sadistic side.  Which is fine since I like that a bit.  I have to admit, I'm glad I did it on my own at first, so I would know what to expect, but now I'm having fantasies about being tied down, wrists and ankles, and having him do it to me and just letting me burn while he whips or spanks me.  I really liked it, as much as I hated it.  Which is the best kind of pleasure-pain toy in my opinion.

Anyway.  I have finished the writing part of Stronghold.  It's currently coming in at about 145,500 words.  Definitely the longest book I've written to date, which makes sense because it's also the first standalone book that I've written.  Their story doesn't continue in another book, the way Jessica's or Eleanor's did, although we'll see them again (and often).  I had an incredibly good time writing this book.  I'm really happy with it at the moment... but editing is still important.  At the moment, I'm saying that it's going to be published and available next weekend.  Keep track of the blog / twitter to know what's going on with it =)

Amazon Banning Erotica & Indie Authors

So, the whole thing with my covers?  Yeah, I resubmitted them and they're back up on the site, with no explanation as to why they were taken down in the first place.  They made it through the "review"... again.

But apparently it's part of a larger problem.  Lexi Blake, who is one of my favorite authors and whom I just did a blog on last week, has had one of her books Their Virgin Captive, removed from the site because apparently it's offensive.  This is the same sight that sells Game Theft Auto... not to mention a ton of sex toys... also graphic movies...

Apparently they're mostly targeting independent authors, like yours truly.  Delightful right?  Some of Lexi's fans suggested emailing the CEO directly (jeff@amazon.com) and there's also a change.org petition here - http://www.change.org/petitions/amazon-barnes-and-noble-kobo-drop-the-clause-of-removing-erotica-and-self-published-indie-authors?share_id=ecrKvjPzoD&utm_campaign=twitter_link_action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition

Honestly, I have no idea how much the change.org petitions can do, but it can't hurt to spread the word, because it's absolute BULLSHIT that erotica can be pulled when the graphic murder mysteries and horror stories get to stick around, not to mention the fact that erotic romances by publishers AREN'T having the same problem.  This is basically targeting the people they think won't be able to fight back and don't make the same sales that the authors who go through publishers do... so if you have a minute to write an email or sign the petition, please let them know that that's not true.

Marriage Training Ch. 17

So, Chapter 17 of Marriage Training is now available on Literotica.

I know some of the chapters can get a little repetitive as they expound on the same themes, but Vivian and Gabriel took me for a little unexpected twist on this one which was fun.  I didn't know how their evening was going to go when I started writing the chapter and they surprised me =)

Having a bit of trouble with Amazon's self-publishing program... apparently there was something wrong with my cover art for the 3rd and 4th books of Venus Rising.  I have no idea WHAT exactly, since the email they sent me didn't say anything except that it didn't follow their guidelines and I definitely didn't think those covers had anything offensive about them.  I bought the rights from bigstock for them so it shouldn't have been a copyright issue.

Anyway, I've re-submitted them with different covers so they should be back up in the next day or so.

I was hoping to get more writing done this weekend, and I have gotten a bit, but I'm also super sick.  Enough so that I actually went to get checked out yesterday (which is extremely unusual for me, I usually just deal until it's over) and I'm now on anti-biotics... wooo.  *sigh* Unfortunately I'm not feeling much better today.  I'll still try to get some writing done though. 

Angel Recommends: Lexi Blake

Lexi Blake writs a series called Masters and Mercenaries that I just love - and every book gets better and better - as well as being one of two authors who writes a series about menage BDSM romances.  Personally I like her better on her own, but I compulsively buy both series whenever a new book comes out.  She's right up there with Cherise Sinclair in getting me into the storylines and I read her books over and over again almost as often as I do Ms. Sinclair's.  

Masters and Mercenaries is about a team of Mercenaries, some of whom used to work for various government agencies, and the women that they get involved with.  All of them are sexy hot Dominants, some of them are straight up assholes, and I've got a soft spot for each and every one of them.  All for different reasons.  The best part is that every story is very different, every dominant and sub is very different, and the danger that each of them ends up being in is very different.

 

Even better, there's a story arch going over the entire SERIES, not just each book.  An arch that has nothing to do with the romances, but which is revealed a little bit at a time as the series progresses.

 

I think I've often said that I usually don't like romances with danger plots - these are definitely one of the big exceptions.  I absolutely adore these books.  And because of the line of work that these men are in, I find the danger plots totally believable and acceptable, not to mention really well written.  And the sex scenes are hot, hot, hot. 

 

I absolutely recommend that if you like my books that you check out hers, because she's one of the writers - along with Cherise Sinclair - that I aspire to.  Especially because, like me, she started out as an indie author and she's really making a name for herself.  I'd love to be able to do that eventually.

 

Also, good news, last night I submitted chapter 17 of Marriage Training =)  So, you know, YAY!  I think it's going to end up being 20 chapters total.  So we're VERY close to the end!