You may have noticed I don’t participate in this type of giveway often. When I do, I sometimes forget to post them here. For that, I apologize. There are so many balls in the air for indie authors. I do cover them in my newsletters.
For a change, I remembered those of you who prefer to find your information when it’s convenient for you, rather than according to my newsletter schedule.
Please browse the many books offered and fill your ereader - for free!
More details here. 😊 Happy reading.
What is love? What is romance?
Last week in the Facebook group, Sexy Spanking Reads, there was a heated discussion about the ‘rules of writing romance.’ My first thought was, “There aren’t any.”
Yes there are rules about writing. Every writer should have proficiency in language. A command of grammar, spelling, and basic story structure is the writer’s equivalent of a musician learning the scales.
Once a writer has mastered essential skills then they get to break some of the rules. The person who posed the question of whether or not the rules had changed asked if examples like cheating and open relationships as fall outside the romance genre.
For all that neither of those situations appeal to me, I can’t decide for others.
Art should be dynamic, challenging and evolving. Different takes on the genre will appeal to different readers.
What is the most romantic thing that has ever happened to you or someone you know? Here’s mine and I have no doubt it won’t be everyone’s idea of romance:
My loving husband has surprised me many times with his ability to make me feel cared for and wanted. The most romantic thing he’s ever done? Years ago we did an 18,000 km camping trip around the Australia outback. One of the most upsetting sights to me was the road kill: animals hit by speeding cars. It wasn’t the dead animals that worried me.
It was the gorgeous wedge-tailed eagles that would land to feed on the carcasses that were upsetting. These eagles are huge, with wing spans up to 2.8 m (9 foot). They can only lift off the ground in the direction they are facing so if a car comes barreling down the highway and the birds are having their fast food lunch and not looking that way, they become a second tragedy.
What did my husband do? Every time we saw a carcas on the highway, he stopped the car, donned gloves, and dragged the eagle-snack far enough off the road so the birds could land safely.
I never loved him more than I did in those moments. And my love for him has grown stronger since then.
But that’s us - two strong people with similar sensibilities in love. While I consider our love and relationship to be extremely romantic, it wouldn’t appeal to a lot of people because they may not care as much about the wild world as we do.
Also our love wouldn’t make much of a novel because there is little conflict between us, even if we do have power exchanges that spice up our intimacy.💝
It’s that time again - a new release today.
Only a delusional author expects everyone to love their books. Still, authors’ lives are spent in fantasy worlds and sometimes we get lost in our dreams.
As much as we may wish for universal acceptance, it will never happen. In fact if we aimed to please everyone, our books would be the written equivalent of the chicken dinner below.
In writing, nobody is right or wrong. Authors are simply telling their stories their way.
If you don’t like my books, I hope you find others that transport you somewhere marvelous.
May as well dream big!
My novella, His To Claim, was part of the anthology Kisses & Kink, released in June 2022 (no longer available). The common denominator shared by the stories in that collection was the setting. The stories took place on cruise ships.
With no more than that to go, I let my imagination loose.
I didn’t see one ship. I saw three.
The first was a catamaran around the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I’ve done that trip so I didn’t need to do a lot of research for part I of my book. The catamaran I sailed on hosted 10 guests and was run by 3 onboard staff.
The second part took place on a ship more like the ones that come to mind when someone says ‘cruise ship’ - a floating village, population just under 5,000 (3,500 guests & 1,300 staff). I’ve seen these giants from land but I’ve never been on one so I had to research how they operate.
The final ship in my story was based on the National Geographic ships, which are a fraction of the size of the big liners, carrying as few as 60-120 passengers. Being so much smaller, they can explore points where the big ships can’t go.
All of that left me with a fascination about cruise ships and the pampering they offer. This past week I came across this article from the Miami Herald, written by Anna Jean Kaiser. Prepare to enter another dimension.
Here are some of the highlights of the article in case you missed it:
With the help of Miami cruise industry veterans, the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is entering the luxury cruise business with a high-end, 95-suite mega yacht slated to hit the ocean in 2025.
“This is going to be an extraordinary, unique, hybrid product. It has no equal — there is no such animal in cruising and nothing like it in yachting,” said Four Seasons Yachts CEO Larry Pimentel, a Miami cruise executive with decades of experience running luxury cruise ships, including Carnival Corporation’s Seabourn and Azamara, formerly part of the Royal Caribbean family.
“I was tasked with creating the best product at sea; it’s a tall order, but an exciting one,” he said, explaining that he was told not to create a cruise ship or a copy of a yacht. “We created our own vision of what the best product at sea could be.”
Four Seasons Yachts, whose corporate headquarters is in Miami, will be a three-ship fleet, with the first yacht debuting in November 2025, the second in 2026 and the third in 2027. Italian ship builder Fincantieri is building the yachts, which will cost a combined $1.2 billion. The first ship will cost a staggering $4.2 million per suite to build and have room for about 200 passengers.
Four Seasons’ cabins won’t be your average cruise ship suites. Starting at 590 square feet, some suites will have modular walls for families and groups to combine rooms. Some will have their own swimming pools and certain ones will have attached “staff cabins” for guests who have security guards, caretakers or nannies accompanying them. The largest cabin will be the “funnel suite,” a 9,600-square-foot, four-story suite with glass walls facing the ocean.
The yacht will come with 11 bars and restaurants, a spa and fitness center. The yacht’s main swimming pool floor will be able to rise up, spilling the water out and creating a flat space for shows, events and weddings.
[…]
The Four Season’s seafaring venture comes as competing luxury hotelier Ritz-Carlton debuted its first luxury yacht in October. But Pimentel and Levine say, while they think the Ritz-Carlton yacht will do well, they believe their Four Seasons ships cater to a different, higher-paying clientele. They also pointed out that the Ritz-Carlton’s yachting line is a licensing agreement, unlike their partnership.
Pimentel and Levine say it’s too early to share details on the cost of sailing on a Four Seasons yacht, but said it will be comparable to the pricing at Four Seasons hotels and resorts.
When completed in late 2025, the first yacht will sail the Mediterranean in the summer and the Caribbean in the winter. But you’re less likely to see the Four Seasons yachts in the traditional cruise mega ports, where thousands of passengers are unloaded onto an island for a few hours or a day.
“You will not see us in those ports,” Levine said. “We are a yacht, a mega yacht. We’ll be visiting smaller, less accessible ports around the Caribbean. On a cruise, the cruise [line] tells you what you’re gonna do. On Four Seasons Yachts, you tell us what you’d like to do.”
Read the full article here.
Would you like to take a cruise on one of these floating luxury palaces? How big can you dream?
Introducing ~ Delta James
Follow Delta on Amazon here.
What is one unexpected, good thing writing has brought to your life?
That one’s easy—friendships I would never have had without them. Specifically, my two best friends in the world: Renee and Chris
If you could take a January holiday with no limits on cost, location, etc, where would you go? Who would you take with you?
Renee would want me to say a cruise! But honestly, I would love to go back to Great Britain. I went once many years ago planning to see it all, but I fell in love with Cornwall and just couldn’t leave. Had I not had animals and the UK not have had a quarantine for any animals born outside it, I might have stayed.
I’d really love to go to Wales. I’ve felt called to that country for a very long time, which I think is shy my first heroine was born and raised there.
I would take Chris because it was where she was born. And Renee just because we’re kind of a team.
Of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favorite?
It tends to be whichever one I’m writing. But there are those that I remember more than others, usually because of the characters.
Brought to Heel—because of Dylan and Skylar, but also because it was my first paranormal/shifter romance.
Marked and Mated because of Jean-Michel and Darby
Alpha Dog because of Fitz and JJ.
Overlord because of Gareth and Sloan.
The Bargain because of Con and Katy.
Noah because of Noah and Zara.
Advance because of Roark and Sage AND because it was written as a novella and included in an anthology that earned me my USA Today Bestselling Author status.
Submission because of Gabe and Anne. I wanted Anne Boleyn to have a happy ending
What was the first book that made you cry?
Interestingly, I’ve only cried once when reading a book… and it was one I was writing. It was the hero’s death scene. The stupid thing is I knew he wasn’t going to die! I was typing away just crying my eyes out and having to use tissues. Note: I am not a pretty crier!
When did you write your first story or book? Who did you show it to? Did they encourage you?
The first book I ever wrote got looked at by two agents who wanted to work with me. My father was in failing health and I never pursued it. My first book as Delta James was published by Stormy Night Publications in June of 2018. SNP taught me so much and helped me learn a lot of what I needed to as a writer. In April of 2019, I became an indie author and never looked back!
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
That one is easy: hiring Renee Brooks to do all of my marketing. Without her, I never could have achieved all I have… and all that is to come! The second would be Skye Warren’s Romance Author Mastermind conference. Neither was inexpensive, but both have been worth every dime I spent.
Introducing - Kessily Lewel
Follow Kessily on Amazon here.
Kessily answers questions about her writing life:
What is one unexpected, good thing writing has brought to your life?
I’m going to be honest here. I don’t really remember much about my adult life before writing professionally. I sold my first story at twenty-one and have been working consistently ever since.
Switching to books, however, has led to a lot of changes. Short story and article writing tends to be pretty solitary for the most part. It was nice to realize that book authors have more of a community and that they welcome new authors in and help.
The past five years, since my first book came out, I’ve made a lot of friends in the author community and that’s been really wonderful. And of course, running Sexy Spanking Reads with you, and our other fellow authors, has been a great part of that.
If you could take a January holiday with no limits on cost, location, etc, where would you go? Who would you take with you?
Right now, I’m not sure I would want to travel anywhere. Having been locked down for so long, it feels weird going places now. I’m finding myself much more of an introvert.
But if the world was back to normal? I love Orlando and would love to have a nice long vacation there with my husband. We love Disney World but packing it all into a short trip means you don’t really have energy to do anything else. A few weeks there would be great.
I also love cruises so that would be my second choice.
Of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favorite?
Hmm. That’s too tough. I think I can narrow it down to my top three.
Mastering Amari is one of my few stand-alone books. The story was something I’d been wanting to do for a while. Many hours of research went into it, and it was really a labor of love. It’s probably one of my best and I’ve always been sad it was overlooked.
Scorpio (book two of Masters of the Zodiac) is another favorite, also a stand-alone, but it was a real challenge because it was part of a multi-author set and I had to collaborate with other authors to create the world and make sure everything lined up. I really enjoyed the challenge and I put a lot of extra time and effort into it.
My third favorite is a series: The Krampus Collective. I just have so much fun with these because each one is unique but also have some shared characteristics, and it’s fun bringing in the mythological aspects and making it fit in a more modern world, with a human mate.
I just realized my chosen top three are all paranormal romance and having seen that, I do have to admit it’s my favorite thing to write. I love the cowboys and actors in my contemporary books, but there’s something about magic that has always intrigued me.
What was the first book that made you cry?
Wow. That takes me way back. Hmm. The first ones I remember… The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (Robert Heinlein) and Flowers in the Attic (V.C. Andrews) both when I was about nine. Not sure which I read first.
When did you write your first story or book? Who did you show it to? Did they encourage you?
My first story was, like I said, back when I was around twenty-one. I was working as a fetish artist at the time. Making some extra money illustrating kink scenes for a magazine.
The editor loved some of the extra pictures I had done, but she could only use ones that matched stories she was printing, so she asked if I could write one to match. I think it was a western story, but I can’t remember. I had always enjoyed writing fanfic but had never really considered doing it professionally, but I gave it a try.
She snapped it up, said it was perfect, and said she wanted a story from me in every issue from now on. She was the editor for several different magazines so pretty soon I was writing quite a lot. My last estimate was around 400 published short stories under 20-ish pen names.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
I could say covers and editors, because I’ve seen a lot of good authors go nowhere because they try to do it themselves, but for something big, I’d have to say Vellum. It really gives everything that professional pop.
More about Kessily:
I started out as a fetish artist for C.F. Publications more years ago than I care to admit. Within a few months I ended up writing for various magazines as well, and I've been doing both ever since. I've written 15 novels, a few novellas, and hundreds of short stories and articles over the years, and I've had one book of spanking illustrations published.
I spend a lot of time online making new friends from all around the world. I have a deep love of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy and I enjoy exploring D/s relationships through those genres. I have a blog where I explore topics of D/s in a less fictional way, discuss my books, and throw in the occasional short story for fun at Kessilylewel.com
Introducing ~ Chloe Kent
Follow Chloe on Amazon here.
Chloe answers questions about her writing life:
What is one unexpected, good thing writing has brought to your life?
Good writer friends for sure. While being a writer is a perfect excuse for an introvert like me to be alone, sometimes you just need like-minded people around you. I have met the most amazing, talented writers out there and that includes you, Libby that I can call my friends.
If you could take a January holiday with no limits on cost, location, etc, where would you go? Who would you take with you?
Definitely my husband. And probably to see the Northern Lights.
Of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favorite?
I wrote a bodyguard/princess trope book which I still love and will remain my favorite for a long while I think.
What was the first book that made you cry?
Tough one. I usually cry for the simplest of things, but I think The Velveteen Rabbit.
When did you write your first story or book? Who did you show it to? Did they encourage you?
I was probably really young, but I remember I wrote about a dog and his friend and then I stapled the pages together to make it look like a book. Both my parents were avid readers, but my mom was truly voracious. I was surrounded by books all the time so both my parents encouraged me a lot to follow my dream?
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
The first thought that comes to mind is paid courses. But honestly while it isn’t a huge amount, I think paying for my newsletter is definitely the best money I spend each month.
More about Chloe:
Chloe Kent has been hooked on romance for as long as she could remember. And now she gets to write them too. Her books always feature a fiery heroine who has no idea what she’s been waiting for until she meets the powerful and dominant hero… or heroes because sometimes it takes more than one.
Her favorite things to do are reading and consuming chocolate.
Introducing ~ Poppy Flynn
Follow Poppy on Amazon here.
Poppy answers questions about her writing life:
What is one unexpected, good thing writing has brought to your life?
It’s not really any secret that I have a son who has been declared medically unfit to attend school several times since he was seven years old. Those periods have sometimes spanned years. His digestive system doesn’t work properly, and when he was eleven, he finally needed surgery since all the other options proved fruitless.
Being able to write, and work from home was an unexpected lifeline. A way for me to make a living while still taking care of my son. It always makes me think of something my mother used to say about blessings in disguise… or when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
If you could take a January holiday with no limits on cost, location, etc, where would you go? Who would you take with you?
Since starting my Masters of Paradise series, I’ve had to do a lot of research on the Caribbean and the Bahamas in particular. So, I think I’d take a cruise with my husband and see it all for myself.
Of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favorite?
I am particularly fond of my Serendipity series. It’s a humorous, fantasy, magic academy series about a clumsy witch called Seren Starlight. But while I loved it, it’s not what my readers know me for, and it bombed in terms of being a commercial success. I guess this is what is truly meant when authors are advised to ‘stay in their lane.’
What was the first book that made you cry?
Lordy, I’m not sure I can remember that far back! I’m an emotional reader, so lots of books make me cry. The first book series that really caught my interest was The Lone Pine series by Malcolm Saville which I started reading when I was about twelve. It’s a teen mystery series, with the very lightest touch of romance in that several of the teenagers it’s written about are girlfriend and boyfriend. One of the final books in the series is where everything changes, where they’re all on the verge of adulthood and moving on with their lives; moving away from each other, so I think it was probably that one. It’s called Where’s My Girl, and I still have the original paperback.
When did you write your first story or book? Who did you show it to and did they encourage you?
I wrote two books full of angsty poetry throughout my teen years, and at twenty-one I realised I wanted to write something more substantial. I was an avid reader, but this was the days before PCs were a household item, and before Windows or Google were even a twinkle in their creators’ eyes.
I also wanted more from the books I was reading. I wanted sex on the page, I wanted series, and I wanted dual points of view, none of which were common back then. So that’s what I wrote… typed on a word processor and printed out. I sent them to Mills and Boon since that was the only address I could find, as it was printed at the end of their paperbacks. They were all rejected, all five of them, and book six was the second book in a series. With the first one rejected, there didn’t seem any point in continuing, and without the wonders of the world wide web at my fingertips, I had no idea what else to do with them. Since I was pregnant with my second child, I hung up my pen, metaphorically speaking. It’s one of my greatest regrets that I didn’t start writing again for another twenty-five years. But then, and now, my family have always been incredibly supportive, and for that I’m truly thankful.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
The best money I ever spent was a mere $25 to join a reverse harem multi author set called Loved by Three. The series was incredibly successful – and still is, twenty months later – giving me my bestselling book, Smokin’ Cowboys. I was also able to release Stranded with the Storm Chasers into the same series at no extra cost. I got the biggest return on a small investment, but more importantly, I was afforded the realisation that I really could make a living as an author.
More about Poppy:
Poppy Flynn was born in Buckinghamshire, UK and moved to Wales at eight years old with parents who wanted to live the 'self-sufficiency' lifestyle.
Today she still lives in rural Wales and is married with six children.
Poppy's love of reading and writing stemmed from her parents’ encouragement and the fact that they didn't have a television in the house.
"When you're surrounded by fields, cows and sheep, no neighbours, no TV and the closest tiny village is four miles away, there's a certain limit to your options, but with books your adventures and your horizons are endless."
Poppy x
His To Claim - what do you think?
SPOILERS!
Have you finished reading the whole book? No? Then you may want to stop reading now so the story can unfold naturally.
Today I’m talking about some of the feedback I received in the editing and beta reading process on this book. I love it when readers and editors challenge my stories because it helps me understand my own writing better.
In the first version of this novella, a few people missed the time lines. In this version my husband has done great book design. He has even included maps to show where each cruise went. You can preview the book online to see the change.
Other points raised:
I knew that having Jazz hook up with Scott the engineer was risky in a romance novel. In case I didn’t realize that, my editor warned me but I left it as it was. In real life, this is exactly what many people do after a break up so I was decided to try to capture that self-destructive trend.
To me this twist makes perfect sense. Otherwise how could she know that Adam is ‘the one’ if she hasn’t tried to move on with someone else?
Several readers thought that Jazz was embarrassed about her kink in her last encounter with Scott. She is self conscious, it’s true. Her long association with the Black Hen has taught her to be discrete on the issue of kink. She hopes Scott will get the hint without her having to articulate it.
Why is she so cautious in a world where so many people are up front about their preferences? The continued patronage of the Black Hen depends on it remaining low key so her first instinct is always to approach the subject obliquely.
Besides, she knows that it’s not that long since kink was classified as mental illness: (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/bdsm-versus-the-dsm/384138/).
Jazz is savvy enough to realize that many people still think that critical way. When Scott looks at her with contempt it’s because he has that old-fashioned mindset. He thinks she’s mentally unbalanced.
It can be hard and sometimes humiliating for like-minded people to find their soulmates. I know how long it can take, doing trial & error. Whenever I get too comfortable with writing kink and question my need to be discrete about it, all I have to do is read some of the scathing reviews people drop on books in this genre.
Some people loathe them for the erotic content.
Worse still are the people who attack authors in the genre because the practices described in the books aren’t the way those readers believe things should be done.
***
Those are just a few of the issues around this book and the genre generally.
What are your thoughts on the book or on the genre?
I hope parts of this story touched in all the right ways.
His To Hold - the current series - a question of trust
From my newsletter July 2, 2022
I’m in the middle of a new book where the issue of trust keeps popping up. As I write, I think of the many, many times I’ve trusted people when I shouldn’t have.
I’m not pleading innocent here. I’m sure I’ve let people down more times than I’d care to admit. But I hope I’ve never put anyone’s life at risk.
Years ago, when I was a freshly certified scuba diver, a senior diver invited me to do a beach dive with him.
I said, “Sure.”
We went to a remote site, geared up, and waded into the water. I let him navigate because, after all, he was so experienced. When our air ran low, he indicated we should surface to start to snorkel back to shore.
I followed his ascent only to discover that he’d made a mistake. We weren’t in the middle of the protected cove where we'd started. We were at the mouth of it, and a strong ebbing tide was pulling us toward open sea. I tried not to panic but I hadn’t given our dive plan to anyone and, as far as I knew, neither had he. It was just the two of us in a hidden cove. The sun had set and night was falling.
Worse than that, we were about thirty feet from the rocky outcrop that marked the edge of the cove. Weighed down with eighty pounds of scuba gear, to me it looked like miles away.
My dive buddy opened the goody bag attached to his gear belt and handed me one of its thin straps.
"Hang on to this,” he said and started swimming toward the rocky outcrop.
I grabbed the ropey strap and followed. I swam with every scrap of strength I could muster.
Cut to the finish: we made it to the rocks and slowly edged our way back into the calmer waters of the cove. Finally, I stumbled onto the beach and sat for five or ten minutes, until there was enough air in my lungs to speak.
When I thanked him for the strap, he laughed. “That wouldn’t have saved a kid. I just didn’t want you to panic,” he said.
I’d like to say that was the last time I ever went diving with him. It wasn’t. I had one more scary experience with him before I decided he was bad news and the only person I could trust underwater was myself.
Fast forward a few months: I met my husband when we were both diving at that same cove. For the longest time, I let him lead our dives but I always double checked the navigation when we were underwater. After a few dives, I accepted that he knew what he was doing. More than that, he was watching me and my air supply and keeping us both safe.
Those contrasting experiences reinforced these perpetual life experiences:
1. People will always betray and disappoint us. 💔
2. Sometimes we find something symbolic, like a piece of string, to hold onto as we find our way to safety. The smallest things can help us save ourselves, from the neglect or indifference of others.
AND
3. Love and trust are evergreen. 💖 Even after long droughts, a true friend or lover can appear in our lives when we least expect them. We can learn to trust again.
If you know my books, you probably recognize these themes. I hope they resonate with you.
Back to my initial questions then: when and how have you been betrayed? How did you recover or have you? What did you learn?