Moonlight Romance Authors

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Hi everyone

I am back after some time away, a bit late but better late than never. I just wanted to tell you that A Kind of Loving has been to number two at Red rose Publishing list fictionwise and is now at number four. Too Hot to Handle is at number four at Eternal Press list fictionwise and A Shamefull Secret has gone up to number ten. It was at number one back in Jan- March then disappeared but has now revivied.

My second book in the Upstairs Downstairs series (Love & War) has been taken for audio - the first book was taken in Feb. So everything is all systems go!

I'll try to get in next week on time! LOL Linda

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Unity - Dark Tarot

I have just handed in my line edits for Unity and I'm feeling just fine!

It's getting close now, due out in e-book later this month, with Tease Publishing's imprint, Tease Tarot.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

:D

And here's a synopsis for anyone who's missed it previously posted:

Obstinate Darcy and artistic Celeste lives cross, starting them both on a path into the world of Faerie, which draws them in and comes alive for them. Their lives become those of true ladies, of balls and gorgeous men in dark cathedrals, as the world of abusive stepfathers and fits of depression are left behind them. As they change for their experiences, they realise that they a balance must be found between their Faerie travels, which they visit in their dreams, and the Real Life of their waking world.

I'll be back soon with excerpts!

Nikki Watson.
http://nikkiwatson.blogspot.com/

Monday, June 30, 2008

MIDDLES

MIDDLES:

Okay, I've been avoiding the subject of middles, mostly because they are harder for me to write than beginnings and endings. This, I am sure, isn't as tough for other writers, but it is definitely my personal challenge.

I start off a project full of moxy, excitement and enthusiasm. I'm in love with my characters and I know exactly how I'm going to torture them and finally reward them at the end. Then I get to page 150 or so and stare at the blinking icon on the too white screen of the computer and wonder what the heck I'm gonna do now.

I've often gotten the stakes so high that I'm not even sure myself how the heck I'm gonna get my people out of the mess they're in. It's like a raging storm that won't let me see beyond that spot into the resolution.

Worse, there are times when I just run out of steam and loose the energy of the story. My muse runs off to a dark corner and simply will not come out. Times like these I have to start a new project for a while until I get my momenum back. Yep. It's just hell sometimes.

I once thought a crit partner or group would help in the sagging middles but, for me, it just ain't so. They get me off track and send my thoughts out in too many different directions. I do better with crit groups when the work is finished--not in progress.

Right now I have two WIPs, Harmonica Joe's Reluctant Bride (a time travel western) and The Light of Valmora (a dark fantasy). It suites me to have a wide gulf between the two concepts of my WIPs because--well, I'm not sure why except that the extreme differences in the subject matter helps rejuvenate my mopping muse.

Am I the only one who has this problem? Are there other authors out there who cringe at the thought of getting through the middle? Or do most of you sail through the middle dulldroms of your unchartered novels maintaining your quest for the fire of your story unphased by the middle ground?

Sarah McNeal

www.sarahmcneal.com

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Reader/Writers

I still would like to maintain, that after the last three years that I've been finding ePublishers around the place who want to publish my writing, the best part about the ePub industry are the people you come to meet and get to know. It's hardly a controversial statement to make that ePubs open and close, will give you grief and tears of happiness, but the friends you make, people who you can trust to read your work and give you an honest opinion, and the people who's work you can read in return, are the most valuable part of the ePublishing industry, and indeed, the most valuable part of any writer's art.

Having just finished a previous project (a project set after Unity, titled Awakening) which took me the better part of half a year to write to its completion, I have recently started on a new project, the next in that series. I like to think that the series I am creating has something of a Charles De Lint slant. I've spoken about him before. Just check the tags for previous posts I've made about the fantasy author. All of the stories I am writing right now are a part of the same universe, but the characters who are main shift and change and accommodate include new characters that bring new life and interest to a series that I think would be much less if it depended on previous novels.

But these are my novels. Of course I think they are something special.

After coming out the other end of a horrible stint of writer's block, with the help of one of my reader/writer friends, I only want to thank all of the people who are patient with me, who love to read my writing, who love that I read theirs. I think that all of you know who you are. I dearly appreciate you.

Thank you.

Nikki Watson.
http://nikkiwatson.blogspot.com/

Monday, June 23, 2008

New submission...

I was introduced to gay romance by the place I review for. Prior to 2006, I had never read a gay romance, never even knew they existed. Well, what can I say, now I'm hooked! So much so that I decided to try my hand at writing a couple of them. I'm presently working on Doomed to Be Charmed, a paranormal gay romance, and I just finished and submitted to a publisher Homecoming a science fiction gay romance.

Homecoming came about because I wanted to just write something and finish it. I love writing longer novel lengths but sometimes as an author I just want to write and finish something for that feeling of accomplishment you get when you do finish a work no matter how big or small. That can be the beauty of non-fiction articles which I also write, but I wanted to do something fiction. Anyway, this idea popped into my head and the old "what if?" reared its head, and became, "What if a younger man left his lover to see the universe, but then realized that it wasn't what he really wanted? Would his lover who was older, accept him back into his life after five years or would he want revenge for the pain he was caused?" Anyway that's the premise of Homecoming which I really enjoyed writing. It took me about six hours total from rough draft to polished version, but I was very happy with it when it was completed.

I'll be posting here once I hear back from the publisher I submitted it to!

Space: THE FINAL FRONTIER

I just finished watching "When We Left Earth" on the Discovery channel. It was a great series that went from Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the moon in ten years to our plan to send a manned spacecraft to Mars. There have been so many challenges and hazards along the way that some critic have said it's just a waste of money.
I beg to differ.
The space program lifts us up out of our self-focused thoughts, away from disputes between countries and takes us up into the heavens with wonder and awe etched in the skies. It is euphoric to think that we have actually had a man on the moon and that we might some day set foot on the red planet. Humankind have always had wanderlust surging through our veins. We want to know what's out there. Just like Fox Mulner, we search for "the truth" that's out there.
But even if you could care less what is in the universe, you have to appreciate the achievements that have been accomplished. Without the efforts of the space program, there would be no cell phone service, no satellite TV, no GPS,; not even Velcro.
It fills me with excitement as I await the next adventure by man into space.
What about you? How do you feel about the space program? Are you like me, excited and enthused, or do you think it's a big waste of time and money.
Sarah McNeal
Author of THE VIOLIN at Amira Press
THE DARK ISLE at New Concepts Publishing
LAKE OF SORROWS at New Concepts publishing

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Regina Paul

Natalie-Nicole Bates

Natalie-Nicole Bates may be new to the world of publishing, but she’s always been a fan of books and is an active book reviewer. Now she gets to see what’s it’s like on the other side of the book fence when her paranormal romance, Antique Charming, is released through Books To Go Now Publishing this fall and her contemporary romance, Change of Address, will be published in January 2012 by Secret Cravings Publishing.

In addition to her love of books, Natalie also has an uncharacteristic love of hockey which can be attributed to the fact she was born in Russia. Natalie now resides in the UK with a collection of Victorian and Edwardian era photography, her favorites being the post-mortem photographs. Visit Natalie-Nicole online at Natalie-Nicole Bates.com

Tara Fox Hall

I'm an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop in upstate New York. I have a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a double minor in chemistry and biology from Binghamton University. My writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. I am the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. I also coauthored (with Eric Dietrich) the nonfiction book Forbidden Conversations. I divide my free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice. Visit me at Tara Fox Hall.com

Lindsay Townsend

Lindsay lives in Yorkshire, England, where she was born, and started writing stories at an early age. Always a voracious reader, she took a degree in medieval history and worked in a library for a while, then began to write full-time after marriage.

Her first unpublished historical found her an agent and the second got a publisher in London interested. They wanted her to write with a modern setting, which she did – several romantic thrillers set in Greece, Italy or on Dartmoor in the English West Country - and enjoyed it, but historicals are really her first love. Lindsay is currently writing medieval romance for Kensington, who published ‘A Knight’s Vow’in 2008 and are following it with ‘A Knight’s Captive’ in spring, 2009.

She is also fascinated by the ancient world, especially Rome, Egypt and the Bronze Age. ‘Flavia’s Secret’, set in Roman Britain, came out from Bookstrand in 2008, and two more historicals, ‘Blue Gold’, set in ancient Egypt, and ‘Bronze Lightning’, set in Bronze Age Greece and the Britain of Stonehenge, have also just been released early in 2009.

Please visit Lindsay's blog.

Linda Sole

Linda writes as herself and under several other names. As Linda Sole she iscurrently published by Severn House of UK and USA. She also writes as Anne Herries for Harlequin Mills & Boon. She is happily married and lives in England with her husband. Linda enjoys visiting Spain where she loves to walk, swim and lie in the sun. Writing is her passion and she manages a few words every day, but she also loves animals and especially squirrels. She is known as the squirrel lady at her local supermarket because of all the nuts she buys for them!

Visit her website for more information.

Sarah J. McNeal

I became interested in writing at a young age. My parents didn’t allow us to have a television so my sisters and I became avid readers. We read everything from Shakespeare to my mother’s True Detective Stories that, by the way, scared the hell out of me. I submitted my first story and received my first rejection when I was thirteen years old.

I am particularly drawn to writing fantasy and time travel and have created a magical place called Valmora where winged people with various magical abilities are in constant struggle against the evil forces of the Dark Isle. Two of the books in this series are presently available at New Concepts Publishing: THE DARK ISLE and LAKE OF SORROWS. I am writing the third now: THE LIGHT OF VALMORA. I have written a time travel novel in which a woman goes back to the 1920’s to save a man from dying in THE VIOLIN that has been submitted to New Concepts Publishing. I intend to write a series of musical instrument stories including THE PIANO and one that I intend to start in the near future titled, HARMONICA JOE’S RELUCTANT BRIDE.

Until recent years, I wrote short stories, two of which were the early inspiration for the Valmora series and three other stories that were sci-fi and paranormal.

I have also written nonfiction including an article in The Charlotte Observer and a monthly newsletter from the emergency department of CMC Mercy Hospital that, unfortunately, I no longer have time to write.

Writing brings me a joy and fulfillment that nothing else can. I love creating magical worlds and people who want to make a difference. I hope that anyone who reads them will love them, too.

Please visit her website for more information.

Patricia Richardson

My desire to write began at a young age; my mind was always filled with great stories. However, my dreams, and aspirations were put on the back burner and even at times forgotten after I became married with children. Later the divorce came, which meant I had to become both mother and father to my children. I worked overtime and weekends just to support my family. The struggle to survive and give my children a healthy, loving home lasted until they were grown. Late author, Gracie Cornish, Ph.D. inspired me to follow my destiny. I met her at a place of employment, "just sit down and start writing," she told me and I did just that. I wrote every chance I got; at work, on the subway, and in my spare time at home. This all started in the latter part of 1998. That very same year God impressed upon my heart to relocate from New York to Maryland. I was obedient and moved.

The move meant that once again I had to put my writing on hold to become familiar with my new environment and learn to cope with the conditions of a highly stressful job. Most evenings when I arrived home the only thing I wanted to do was turn the ringer off the telephone and sleep. I seldom picked up my manuscript, which was kept under my bed just waiting for me not to be too tired and stressed to write. The time for writing again did not come until late in 2001 when I finally came to the realization I would always be stressed and tired from working and if I did not use the gift God gave me I would never achieve the independent financial freedom I wanted. After this epiphany I set a goal for myself; to have the manuscript completed and sent to my editor in March of 2002. Finally, in March of 2003 the book cover for my first novel, "A Place for Ida," was approved and I was published! This of course came with a price. I lost work, I cried, and I virtually had no social life. I was on a personal lockdown. I was on a mission. Most of my spare time was spent researching publishers, cover letters, and anything else I felt was pertinent to my success. Since then I established Leap of Faith Publishing and republished "A Place for Ida" and soon after published the sequel, "A Time for Jonathan."