The Romance of the Holidays

Holiday Gifts of Love Blog Hop!

Welcome, blog hoppers. Perhaps we've never met. I'm Anne Holly by name and holiday writer by trade (eight or nine of my titles are "holiday books"), quite by accident - almost.

I have written before about what I like so much about holiday romance, though I never did intend on devoting so much of my writing career to this little faux subgenre. They just seem so magical to me – especially the autumn and winter ones, with their natural beauties. To write a holiday romance is to instantly connect with a well of emotions, memories and shared myths, and that’s a wonderful thing.

I once wrote about A Christmas Carol and how it gathers up so much of what’s special about the holidays:

Christmas is the time when we have in our collective subconscious the two extremes –the optimistic Christmas lover, Tiny Tim, and the misanthropic cold hearted Scrooge, who wasn’t really a bad guy deep down. Really, he was just hurt by life. Now, most well-adjusted people fall some place in between, but those two extremes represent the spectrum of romance: Someone full of love, and someone who has had the love beaten out of them. Those are the characters to which I am naturally drawn – and the redemption that is achieved when the one overcomes the other, and the romance that pools in their bond when it all works out right in the end. This is likely the main reason I write so much about the holidays. It is a time of salvaging the human from the ravages of plans gone wrong, of love unrequited and of tragedy spilt over a life time.

I wrote that about two years ago, and I still believe it. I am an optimist at heart, but it doesn’t come easy. Anyone who retains optimism into adulthood knows that it’s a decision one makes – not to forget or ignore all the setbacks and knocks, but to push through them and not let them get you down. This is where I’m at. Refusing to let life make a Scrooge out of me.

I also believe that the magic of the holidays rests in its ability to heal up a bit of the wounds of the year, and to renew hearts and spirits. It’s no coincidence it’s at the end of every year. This is why I believe in the restoration of Scrooge, and why the ideas found in A Christmas Carol float around the edges of so many of my books.

In my first Christmas romance, Unwrapping Scrooge, I fully embraced the premise that Christmas can heal. In it, a successful yet gloomy writer must decide if he can unscrooge himself enough to woo an optimistic young exchange student before she returns to Canada – and she must decide if she can meet him halfway:

Smiling instead, he switched on the waffle iron, and considered the way she would look as she watched the snow. Being Canadian, perhaps she had a special relationship to it. He had begun to look at it differently, himself. What had previously been a cold, wet annoyance now appeared somewhat magical, blanketing them in sparkly privacy within their warm little bubble.

Of course, Molly would be a Christmas-lover—she even smelled like Christmas, all cinnamon and vanilla. For Kale, who never even really considered what Christmas meant, Molly was the human embodiment of the season. Bright, shiny, and fresh.

“I guess that would make me, what? Halloween?” He snickered at his own fanciful thoughts. “Not even that exciting—more like the August Bank Holiday.”

To this day, that book remains one of my favourites, and those characters still hang with me.

My subsequent books have been less obviously engaged with Scrooge, but I can still tell he’s there because he’s build right into the magic of the season for me. In Good for the Goose, a twice-shy professor must make the decision to risk her heart again or be weighed down by the pain of divorce forever.

My holiday erotic-romance anthology, All I Want, features six couples who have similar decisions, about happiness and pain, and the courage it takes to restore and be restored. It’s a theme I love, and one of the reasons I am such a romance fan, and a fan of holidays.

Maybe I’m naïve to still believe in the magic of the holidays, but I refuse to believe Black Friday and credit card bills are all we have to look forward to every year. If you think this way, too, or you’d like to, check out my books. And, of course, have a very happy holiday, and all the best for the New Year!

GIVEAWAY

Leave a comment on this post, and be entered to win. I’m giving away the winner’s choice of Unwrapping Scrooge, Good for the Goose, or All I Want: The Anne Holly-Day Collection. (18+) Plus, this blog hop has a slew of other great prizes along the route, as well as a pretty amazing grand prize! (Please be sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win.)

Release Celebration: All I Want

Releasing today: All I Want: The Anne Holly-Day Collection

New to paperback and ebook from Rebel Ink Press!

What happens when a band nerd sets his sights on the jock next door, a flighty witch thaws out a corporate stiff, or an uptown girl falls for a bartender? How about when a city slicker roughs it with a cowboy, a free spirited Spaniard seduces his calm and collected professor, or a fantasy writer teaches a no-nonsense doctor to see the magic around him?

Attraction, friction, and enough sparks to heat up the coldest winter!

Opposites attract under the spell of six different holidays in this collection of contemporary erotic romance stories from author Anne Holly, covering Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day.

Each story is unique, reflecting the glow and lore of the holiday that inspired it, but the collection is bound together by a single thread – the joy of taking the plunge into sizzling romance.

~*~

Including the following six erotic-romances:

Like Magic, a story for Halloween

Ian Hannigan was having the worst day of his life. A real estate prospect turned out to be a prank, his car has been stolen, and he’s stranded in the worst neighborhood he can imagine on Halloween night. If he believed in magic, he would swear he’d been cursed. Nothing could possibly make this day any worse or better… That is, nothing but Raven, a mysterious occult shop owner who not only claims to be a witch, but insists that she summoned him as the answer to her aching loneliness. Ian’s night just got a lot weirder. And his love life just got a lot more interesting.

Five stars from Just Erotic Romance Reviews!

~*~

Charity, a story for Thanksgiving

Charity Miller has spent her whole life in an urban island surrounded by the wilds of Montana where she’s never ventured too far from her plans. But when she heads into the Big Snowy Mountains to square a land deal one chilly November, her normally-professional self fades away. Maybe it’s the mountain air or finally quitting her diet. Or maybe it’s “real-live-cowboy” Joshua Rollings and his many attractions that has her off balance.Whatever it is, this Thanksgiving could give her a reason to be thankful for the rest of her life.

Highly recommended by You Gotta Read reviews!

~*~

Good for the Goose, a story for Christmas

Successful scholar Dr. Natasha Mintz believes her divorce signaled the end of her romantic life. But when she gets snowed in one Christmas with a young Spanish grad student, she may want to rethink things. For Natasha, winter has never been so hot!

 Four stars from Just Erotic Romance Reviews!


~*~

Bubbly, a story for New Years

Beth’s had the best of everything and the worst of everything. From the outside, a poor little rich girl, hounded by the press, but, on the inside, bruised by dark memories. When she seeks escape from her suffocating world on New Years Eve, she accidentally gets a taste for how the other half lives. Rough bartender Tig Riley offers her a whole new outlook on life in his arms and maybe even a brand new future, if only she can trust him. Can he really help her heal herself?

Four stars from Sizzling Hot Book Reviews!

~*~

V-Day, a story for Valentine's Day

It all started with a serenade. A family like Daniel’s and the solitary pursuit of musical excellence is enough to make a young man crazy. No wonder all Daniel Vouks dreams of is getting away. He knows his violin will take him places in life, but the only place he really wants to be is next door. He’s been in love with his neighbor since he was fourteen, but can he ever make her see him as more than just a lovesick kid? V-Day is the story of a Valentine's Day weekend Daniel fears he may regret, but will never, ever forget.

One of The One Hundred Romances Project's top books of 2011!

~*~

And a new, previously unreleased story for St Patrick's Day: Cormack's Luck, exclusive to this anthology!

American writer Katie Cormack inherited more than a cottage from her wild Irish father, but also his wit, his stories and his family’s secret burden. Hiding away in the Irish countryside she’d always dreamed of, she communes with the fairies and beasts of her fantasy and folklore. When a local doctor comes down on her for filling his young son’s head with “nonsense”, Katie must show them both that not even St Patrick himself could drive all the dragons out of their imaginations. In the process, she might be able to reverse a wrong that has been hanging over the Cormacks for five generations, one that has brought them all together for the season of renewal.

*
I'm very excited to have another paperback in release, and I'm happy to see these stories find new life as an ebundle, as well. Each one was a fun, new challenge for me, and each one is an homage to various types of romance I've enjoyed as a reader. I hope you enjoy reading this collection!

Get it while it's hot!

Available at the following vendors in ebook:

Amazon US
Amazon UK
B&N
ARe
BookStrand
...and more!

And in paperback:

Amazon
B&N

New TODAY from:

Add the book on GoodReads, or find it on ManicReaders.
Available now to select reviewers in PDF upon request.

Releasing Tomorrow: All I Want, a Holiday Anthology

Coming October 3 to paperback and ebook, All I Want: The Anne Holly-Day Collection, including all five of my 2011 Rebel Ink Press erotic-romance holiday shorts, as well as an exclusive, new sixth story! I'll be here tomorrow celebrating!

What happens when a band nerd sets his sights on the jock next door, a flighty witch thaws out a corporate stiff, or an uptown girl falls for a bartender? How about when a city slicker roughs it with a cowboy, a free spirited Spaniard seduces his calm and collected professor, or a fantasy writer teaches a no-nonsense doctor to see the magic around him?

Attraction, friction, and enough sparks to heat up the coldest winter!

Opposites attract under the spell of six different holidays in this collection of contemporary erotic romance stories from author Anne Holly, covering Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day.

Each story is unique, reflecting the glow and lore of the holiday that inspired it, but the collection is bound together by a single thread – the joy of taking the plunge into sizzling romance.

Extra Sample: Good for the Goose

An erotic romance for Christmas by Anne Holly from Rebel Ink!

Successful scholar Dr. Natasha Mintz believes her divorce signaled the end of her romantic life. But when she gets snowed in one Christmas with a young Spanish grad student, she may want to rethink things. For Natasha, winter has never been so hot!

PG-13 Excerpt…

Natasha found herself slightly distracted marking papers at the dining room table that day. Every time Raphael moved, she looked at him which in itself was a mistake, as looking at him only distracted her further. She no longer thought it was her imagination when he went out of his way to get her attention, or brushed against her leg under the table, or slid his finger sensually along the rim of her mug when he insisted on refilling her coffee. His removal of the stacks of finished exams was so gallant it bordered on old fashioned wooing.

Awareness. That’s what it was, she thought. They were profoundly aware of each other with a capital A. His scent, his masculine presence, his male interest in her, nothing about him escaped her notice that morning. Judging by the smoky look that often entered his eyes when she caught him looking at her and the way he'd smile and look away when she lifted her head unexpectedly, he was no less affected by her.

This was dangerous territory. They had no business being aware of each other. Natasha was old enough to be his...well, his aunt, she thought defensively. It was insane.

Yet, there it was. Awareness.

Despite the distractions and anxiety, they managed to complete their marking well before dinner and entered the grades into the spreadsheets. Because of the weather, she decided emailing the final grades to the department administrative assistant would be good enough and would spare them the drive to campus. Reluctantly, though, Natasha had to admit the weather wasn’t bad enough to give her an excuse to delay driving him home.

“Well,” she said, popping the lids on the file boxes full of exams and dropping them beside the sideboard in her dining room. “I guess it’s time for you to be getting back.”

“Actually,” he said in an ashy voice with an accent that seemed thicker than before. “I was hoping you'd agree to dinner.”

“Dinner?” Natasha peeped in surprise. “Tonight?”

Raphael chuckled and nodded.

Feeling ridiculous, Natasha attempted to calm herself outwardly and scrambled for the sophisticated voice that normally came so natural to her. “What a good idea. I certainly owe you a meal,” she laughed. “I do appreciate your work, above and beyond the call of duty. Name the place. We’ll go wherever you like.”

“How about right here?” he shrugged in a quintessentially European way. He braced a young, strong hand against the counter near her hip. “I don’t see why we should leave.”

Feeling her heart leap into her throat, Natasha was both giddy and appalled by the suggestion of additional time alone with him without work as a barrier. Yet his flirtatiousness flattered some feminine aspect of her she thought had long ago left the scene in the wake of conferences, departmental business and boxy woolen suits, not to mention her husband’s bitter betrayal.

Her ex-husband, she reminded herself. The guy with the med student. Why shouldn’t she have her own graduate student? The naughty thought brought the hottest little quicksilver smile to her face. A smile which wasn't lost on Raphael, who returned it, changing the atmosphere between them in an instant.

“Why indeed?” she agreed. “What would you like me to make?”

“Nothing,” he purred. “Allow me.”

*

For more info, please see Anne Holly’s Seasonal Tales website.

Promo: Christmas Tales from Anne Holly

I have three titles released for Christmas, and one more that takes place partially during Christmas. If you aren't yet exhausted with the season, please check them out!

Good for the Goose

Successful scholar Dr. Natasha Mintz believes her divorce signaled the end of her romantic life. But when she gets snowed in one Christmas with a young Spanish grad student, she may want to rethink things. For Natasha, winter has never been so hot!

Unwrapping Scrooge

Bestselling author Kale McKinnon is a modern Scrooge – eccentric, misanthropic and reclusive, made bitter by the coldness of his wealthy family. But when optimistic Canadian graduate student Molly Gillis visits Oxford and invades his space, he realizes Christmas is about to change for him forever. But can he make her stay, and force himself to un-Scrooge enough to be the right man for her?

Yule Be Mine, vol 2 - in paperback!

Paperback anthology containing four Christmas novellas released in ebook in 2010 by Decadent Publishing, which includes my title Unwrapping Scrooge and stories from KT Grant, Seleste deLaney and A. Faris.

Strings Attached

“You want to heal me, like one of your stray dogs...”

When Canadian rancher Josie Sergeant gets a call from her brother announcing his impetuous decision to marry, she has her reservations. But, when her brother’s would-be brother-in-law swoops in from Australia to stop the wedding, Josie has no choice but to defend the family.

Theo Sabich is bull-headed and dangerously sexy, but also damaged beyond repair… or so he thinks. He enjoys getting on Josie’s nerves, but when he finds her getting under his skin he must decide - face his demons and grab this last chance for happiness or bury himself in his lonely Outback ranch once and for all.

Under the northern lights, their attraction ignites beyond their control, and Josie finds that a one-time “no strings attached” release of passion is easier said than done when love is hanging by a thread.

But how will they bridge the difference between two worlds, let alone conquer the wounds of the past and find the courage to live again?

Sample Sunday: Good for the Goose

Good for the Goose, my erotic-romance for Christmas.

Successful scholar Dr. Natasha Mintz believes her divorce signaled the end of her romantic life. But when she gets snowed in one Christmas with a young Spanish lover, she may want to rethink things. For Natasha, winter has never been so hot!

This book features a May/December relationship between a professor and student, but a bit turned upside down - the professor is the lady, and the student does the pursuing... Natasha tries to laugh it off, but this is one persistent young man.

PG-13 EXCERPT:

“How about right here?” he shrugged in a quintessentially European way. He braced a young, strong hand against the counter near her hip. “I don’t see why we should leave.”

Feeling her heart leap into her throat, Natasha was both giddy and appalled by the suggestion of additional time alone with him without work as a barrier. Yet his flirtatiousness flattered some feminine aspect of her she thought had long ago left the scene in the wake of conferences, departmental business and boxy woolen suits, not to mention her husband’s bitter betrayal.

Her ex-husband, she reminded herself. The guy with the med student. Why shouldn’t she have her own graduate student? The naughty thought brought the hottest little quicksilver smile to her face. A smile which wasn't lost on Raphael, who returned it, changing the atmosphere between them in an instant.

“Why indeed?” she agreed. “What would you like me to make?”

“Nothing,” he purred. “Allow me.”

***

If there was one thing sexier than a twenty-three year old Spaniard, it was one who poured you a glass of red wine and encouraged you to put your feet up while he made you dinner.

And there he was. His firm, tight body floating around her kitchen as if he were performing some gourmet ballet for her enjoyment, surrounded by the most delicious smells. If his intention was to whet her appetite, he'd accomplished the mission with extraordinary zeal and success.

“Well,” she sighed, enjoying her unexpected position of watcher instead of cook. “I must say, I’m very impressed.”

“This? Nah.” he scoffed. “Cooking – it’s a joy.”

While prone to dimpled charm, Raphael was usually a very controlled, reserved young man around campus. But in the kitchen, with a damp dish towel over one shoulder and bits of red pepper stuck to his forearm, he exhibited an ease and comfort Natasha hadn’t experienced with another human in some time.

She watched him drizzle lemon on the salmon and return it to the oven, then move to puree the tomato to top off the rice. She thought of all the evenings she grabbed a quick cheese sandwich before heading to her office to work, leaving her lovely kitchen to waste away in neglect. How long had cooking and eating been mere uninteresting chores to her?

Smelling the onion-rich steam from the rice and the garlicky aroma of the salmon, Natasha’s stomach growled and she was ready to ask him to never leave. Instead, she sipped her wine and some wicked part of her brain contemplated just how beautiful a young male butt could be.

Food might be the way to a man’s heart but for her, it was a way to some other very interesting organs, as well.

***

For more info, see my Christmas romances page.

Feedback Needed: Him for the Holidays?

As my series for Rebel Ink Press starts to wind down, with three released and two more waiting in the wings, it's time to start thinking of them as a series, including promoting them as a group and coming up with a title for the paperback release in 2012. *squee*

This "series" isn't a series in the traditional sense - they don't have the same characters or the same setting. In some cases, their styles and subgenres are even different, though they are all short erotic-romances (or romantic-erotica). One is semi-paranormal, one is comedy, one is cowboy, a couple have May/December themes, and one is glam.

What connects them is that they all take place around a holiday, and all of them have mismatched couples, combining types of people who normally wouldn't have found each other - a cowboy and a city slicker, a jock and a virginal musician, a prof and a grad student, a bartender and a socialite, and a yuppie and a hippie-witch. All of them have heroes that I adore.

In thinking about titles, one of my rough attempts has kind of grown on me, which emphasizes the lovable heroes and the gift of finding love:

Him for the Holidays

So... What do you think? Catchy? Trite? Overdone? Predictable? Cute? Annoying?

I'm totally open to hearing your reactions, criticism, or other suggestions. I'd like to settle on one quite soon so I can start thinking of them as a group.

Thanks in advance!
AH

Good for the Goose got a Good Review!

Just wanted to share this new review from this month's issue of JERR, page 21:

Good for the Goose is a short story coming in at just 35 pages, but reads like a full sized book. The character development for such a short is extremely well done. I completely got to know Natasha and felt much of what she felt. Ms. Holly has done a great job in telling Natasha’s story and how she transends her despair and grabs at love when she gets the chance. Raphael is a HOT little piece of tail that struts his stuff for Natasha, making him hard for her to resist. The sex in this story was sizzling HOT and fairly well written. The love scenes did seem a little bit stiff, during the actual sex the passion seemed lacking, but still all in all I enjoyed this short story by Ms. Holly and will definitely look for more books from this author. I recommend Good for the Goose for anyone looking for a quick HOT read.

Four stars - not too shabby!

And I like that they gave me good feedback on a weakspot, so I can work on it. They still liked it, though, so that's a WIN, I think!

Summer Wrap-Up: Updates/Forecast on the WIPs

It's been a productive summer, spent editing and writing.

The first month or so was spent re-writing my NaNo 2011 novel, Textbook Romance, with the help of five wonderful betareaders. Then, I spent some time re-editing Unwrapping Scrooge for a Christmas print anthology. Goose and V-Day were re-vamped and released by Rebel Ink.

I did  flurry of new writing in August. The Halloween short, Like Magic, was written, read by a couple sweet people, and submitted to RIP for my holiday shorts series. It's with the editors now. I also managed to finish the Thanksgiving installment, and got it in only a day late. (They were nice to me about that.) The Thanksgiving one, Charity, is a nice, sexy cowboy one; I hope you'll all like it. It started out with another plot, but I had to shelf that beginning and start over with something lighter and more doable in under 15k.

Now, I've outlined and started the New Years one (Bubbly) - this one is a whole lot hotter than the other episodes. It's about a divorced socialite and successful designer who ducks her own New Years party to give life and love another whirl with "the hired help." Just right for a sparkly, fantastic New Years Eve romp!


Textbook Romance is now off to two companies, and I'm submitting it to a third in mid-September or so (staggered according to their response times). I keep revamping the sub letters/synopsis as I go, and tweaking the manuscript. My fingers remain ever-crossed. As always, I'll keep you updated.

The past couple of days have been spent blogging like mad to keep up with all the guest posts and interviews I promised to do over the summer. It doesn't seem like much work when you say yes at the time, but if you let them pile up... Oy!

So, what's next? After Bubbly is submitted for editing at RIP (aiming for September 15, if possible), I'm on to my planned paranormal/shifter dark erotica short/novella, which doesn't have a name yet (though I do have a publisher in mind!). Then, I'll finish the romantic-fantasy novella I started writing back in June but had to put away for other obligations. That one involves an "angel" figure, and has been named After Life. (I have a publisher in mind for that one, as well.) So, that all will likely take me up to nearly-NaNo time! After NaNo, I have plenty more planned - just today, I added a Mountie romance! But, for now, let's just say I'll be busy for a while.

It's insane how fast the year is flying by. This year, so far I've celebrated the release of three books (two of them twice), and am looking forward to at least four more. I got some very nice reviews. I've sold a few, promoted some, and generally kept busy. I am very much looking forward to having more contracts, new covers and releases to share with you throughout the end of 2011 and well into 2012.

If you want to see my complete WIP list, you can find it here.

And, that's a little update on where things are. I'll be in touch as things develop, I'm sure. :)

Good for the Goose is a New Release - Again!

My Christmas romantic-erotica short, Good for the Goose, has been released in its new, revised edition from Rebel Ink Press.

Successful scholar Dr. Natasha Mintz believes her divorce signaled the end of her romantic life. But when she gets snowed in one Christmas with a young Spanish lover, she may want to rethink things. For Natasha, winter has never been so hot!

I lost all my reviews for this book when it was removed, and I am eager to replace them. If you are a reviewer over the age of 18, and would like to see a ARC PDF, please contact me.

~*~
I will be updating this post with links as they become live!

• Amazon US
• ARE
• Bookstrand

New Releases Coming Soon!

Good news! Good for the Goose and V-Day are being formatted as we speak, and should be hitting ebook shelves within a week!

I will update with links when I have them.

Sample Sunday: V-Day - Coming Soon! 18+

A small excerpt* from V-Day, a short erotic romantic-comedy for Valentines Day by Anne Holly – Coming from Rebel Ink Press, August 2011! (ETA: This story has since been released!)

Young violinist Daniel dreams of winning first chair of his university orchestra, and of finding love. For years, he’s adored the pretty physiotherapist who lives next door to his family home, where he lives with a mother who thinks Jello molds and sweaters are the height of cool and a father who has never been seen on the other side of a newspaper. He knows he wants his life to be different - passionate and creative. The trouble is, no girl has ever seen him as more than a friend, and the girl next door, Bronwyn, may never see him as anything other than the 14 year old peeking through her shrubs that he was when she moved in! One long Valentine's weekend, a serenade and a whim can change all that, but how can Daniel make it last more than three days?  

The rest of that day and into the evening was spent in bed, where Daniel learned more in one day than he had in years of sex ed. Always an eager student, he dedicated himself to learning every inch of her body, and every means by which he was able to give and receive pleasure. She wasn’t bashful about directing him, and for that he was grateful.

“Feel good?” She liked to ask him, taking obvious pleasure in all his firsts. She told him she loved how verbal he was with his feedback, and he bit his tongue against reminding her that it was a plus to dating someone who’d evolved the gift of speech instead of grunts.

They hadn’t mentioned Warren again, but it bothered him that the only reason he seemed to be in her bed was to chase away the thoughts of her recent breakup. He refused to think about it, and focused on enjoying making her happy.

“You know, I might be a little late with this…” he said, as they rested from another bout of excitement. “But I think I should ask you out or something.”

She laughed at his belated offer. “I’d say you kind of lucked right into the next step, there, kiddo,” she giggled, and flexed the hand she had cupped around his sensitive parts.

“Well, it’s Friday night. You wanna do something?” he asked, shrugging, eager to make the most of the weekend.

“Watch a movie?” she offered. “That way, we can stay in our jammies.”

“I don’t have any jammies here,” he reminded her. “And I’m pretty sure I might look kind of awful in any of yours.”

She bounced off the bed and retrieved a pair of loose gym shorts from her bureau. “Voila! Makeshift jammies.”

“Ah, yes,” Daniel said, crawling out of the warm nest they had made. “I forgot you athletic types always have formal wear on hand,” he teased, and Bronwyn hit him in the side of the head with a pillow for his back talk.

“Lordy,” he sighed, admiring his long, wiry form in the rather shockingly short red shorts.

“You’re adorable.” She laughed, and he flexed his rather unimpressive muscles in response, just to soak up more of her delight before slipping on the oversized jersey she handed him.

“What did I do to deserve you today, just when I needed you?” she asked, kissing him with a loud smack of appreciation before heading downstairs.

And what can I do to deserve you for longer than today?

There would be time for the “relationship talk” later. He hoped.

Watch for the first two installments from my Rebel Ink holiday series, Good for the Goose (Christmas) and V-Day over the next while, followed by Halloween (September 2011), Thanksgiving (October 2011) and New Years (December 2011)!

*Not yet finished editing for release. 

Pleading Busy

No theme this week, folks, though I will be popping in here a few times, I'm sure. I just spent a fairly grueling weekend refining the new novel, doing a close line read for Draft 3. Sent it to some readers, and am hoping Draft 4 will be the submission draft! Now, I have a ton of real life work, a couple stories to finish writing, and more edits to do for the re-release of Good for the Goose. *sigh* It never ends!

(Also, I have to hurry today so I can play hooky tomorrow and see the new Harry Potter! I really shouldn't - I should work - but, dangit, I deserve a break. Right?)

So, I beg your forgiveness for spotty blogging over the next little while. Rest assured that it's in the interest of producing more/better writing in the long run!

In the meantime, I've been interviewed by Andy Rane, so you can get your Anne Holly fix there, if you'd like.

And, for some writing craft tips, you can see what constitutes "rookie mistakes" according to the self-declared pope of writers town. Or some of these other articles on the dos and don'ts of writing/publishing/etc.

Have a great week!

Without Further Ado... My New RIP Covers!

These are the new covers for the short romantic erotica books, Good for the Goose and V-Day, that are being re-released by Rebel Ink Press in August. 

Good for the Goose focuses on Natasha, a successful professor and recent divorcee, and the unexpected love affair she has one Christmas break with a fiery pursuer - a Spanish grad student more than a decade younger than she! Good for the Goose is both strongly erotic and passionately romantic, dealing with issues of rejection, regrets, fear of living again, and the persistence of young men with their minds set on the lady of their choice.  

This cover centers on Raphael, the young lover who brings Natasha the magic of Christmas despite the chill, as well as the fireplace they share while snowed in. The cover's black satin feel evokes not only the story's sensuality, but the dark moments of grief pinpointed throughout Natasha's journey. Plus, the boy's pretty cute, too, which never hurts at all! 

A quirky romantic-comedy erotic story told from the male perspective, the Valentine's installment V-Day is a lot less intense in many ways. Young violinist Daniel dreams of winning first chair of his university orchestra, and of finding love. He crushes on the pretty physiotherapist who lives next door to his family home, where he lives with a mother who thinks Jello molds and sweaters are the height of cool and a father who has never been seen on the other side of a newspaper. He knows he wants his life to be different - passionate and creative. The trouble is, no girl has ever seen him as more than a friend, and the girl next door, Bronwyn, may never see him as anything other than the 14 year old peeking through her shrubs that he was when she moved in! One long Valentine's weekend, a serenade and a whim can change all that, but how can Daniel make it last more than three days?  

This cover uses the imagery of Valentine's Day via the flower, melded with Daniel's two loves - his violin and the girl next door. The colours and brightness of this cover echo the lighter feel to the book. 

Good for the Goose and V-Day will release in August 2011. They will be followed by a Hallowe'en romantic-comedy erotica with witchy overtones, a romantic erotica featuring Thanksgiving for the salt of the earth, and a no-holds-barred New Years Eve tale told among the rich and famous. Five stories from August through December - all featuring mismatched couples and mirroring the best qualities of their respective seasons. 


The exact release dates are TBA at the moment. I'll be sure to let you know when these two holiday erotica tales, as well as the next three in the series, become available.

Thanks go to the art department at Rebel Ink Press.

Wild and Wacky Week Thus Far

I will continue on with the last entry in my three part series on editing sins tomorrow. Today, I wanted to update some recent happenings that you may or may not have noticed, depending on how closely you watch me... Is that you out there in those bushes, by the way?

Well, on Monday night, I received an email from one of my former publishers, reverting the rights to two of my short holiday stories back to me (V-Day and Good for the Goose).

The company's owner had come to what I am sure was a difficult decision regarding the structure of the company. That company (which I won't name here, since that is their news and not mine) is, from what I understand, no longer a publishing company, but a co-op through which authors may self-publish their own books. I may or may not work with that co-op in the future; I don't know right now, since I hadn't planned on self-publishing my genre fiction - at least until I am famous and can take a readership (and a lot more knowledge) along with me and afford quality help in doing so.

What this meant was V-Day and Good for the Goose had to be pulled from sales venues, and basically disappeared. They no longer exist for sale, or in those formats. From Monday morning's five-title-author, by Tuesday morning I was a three-title-author.

As you can imagine, this was a bit crushing, since V-Day had just started to chart on Amazon, and Good for the Goose had already earned three fairly decent reviews.

So, I did the only thing I knew to do - I posted an SOS on Facebook for leads on a company that would be interested in re-releasing V-Day and Good for the Goose, and possibly contracting the three subsequent holiday erotica tales that I had planned for that series.

Within hours, I had been put in touch with the lovely staff at Rebel Ink Press, an ebook company with which several authors I knew were now affiliated. Their offers and welcome were beyond enthusiastic, and I was overwhelming by their positive energy for my work. That they had even recognized my name was pretty thrilling itself!

As a result, I can now happily announce I have signed a five story deal with Rebel Ink Press. Even more exciting, the deal came with a firm offer for a paperback collection in 2012, which (I hope) will include a sixth, brand new, holiday erotic tale.

Along with Good for the Goose (Christmas) and V-Day (Valentine's Day), I hope to have Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving and New Years installments throughout 2011.

On Monday, I had just came out of my editing cave, and sent my new novel to my three wonderful betareaders, so the news about V-Day and Good for the Goose came as quite a shock. I am sagging with relief that Rebel came to my rescue so quickly and nicely. I feel renewed by this contract, and look forward to my planned releases through this small but strong company.

Thank you to everyone who helped me through this quagmire, and a great big cheers to my fellow authors at RIP and its staff. Here's to many sales and fine stories!

***

PS. I also got word this week that Unwrapping Scrooge gained a solid 4-heart review from Sizzling Hot Book Reviews. Also, today I was invited to join the RIP authors at a chat event at TRR on July 8, in the Erotica Lounge, so I hope you can all drop by and visit.

It's been a week of many ups and downs, but it's ending on a fine note. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Where Am I? Where Am I Going?

Run Down:

It's been a month of ups and downs in the Kindle business in the eight months since my first release last October, and recently my books have had some movement both up and down. I admit, I don't really understand the sales stats and such on Amazon, but these are the things that seem clear when I look at all of the sales and buzz info I have at hand:

• Unwrapping Scrooge had a strange off-season resurgence this month, including a boost in sales and some increased interest from reviewers. I plan on trying to make the most of that, to get a momentum going, and see if it can translate into a new marketing campaign for the book starting in October/November leading into the Christmas season.
• Waking Kara remains a consistent seller, especially through Amazon.com, even without any marketing or promotions behind it. This solid little number sells about 10 copies a month, on average, and has reached the 100 copies sold mark, according to my calculations. Now, I know that doesn't sound like much, but given the lack of promotion, that is not bad. Plan: Let's see if that can do a bit better.
• V-Day has recently made its first showing on the Kindle ranks stats, which is nice to see - I like this book, so I need to work on promoting it better. Due to other obligations at the time, I ignored it way too much when it was released - now the plan is to bring some attention to it, and get a review or two.
• Good for the Goose has seen some very moderate ups and downs, but remains fairly low. I have improved the sales profile of it by highlighting the reviews it got last December, in the hopes of reviving it for the Christmas season. Perhaps the idea for a "Christmas in July" blogging blitz might help a bit.
• Sadly, Strings Attached has failed to sell or to attract reviews. I continue to plod ahead, focusing on posting about it at ebook blogs and submitting it to reviewers. It has been out less than a month, so I have not yet given up on it.

Up till now, I have not spent a single dime on marketing or promo. Unfortunately, I am not really in a position to do so now. However, if some of my plans come through, it might be time to resort to paid promotional activities in the fall. I refuse to become a gambling junkie about it, dumping good money after bad into useless ads in the hopes of striking the jackpot. Nevertheless, a few well-placed ads and spotlights might be helpful, if placed strategically and designed well. We shall see.

~*~

Looking Ahead:

What is bugging me the most at the moment, however, is not my low sales, but the fact that I have no new releases planned in the foreseeable future. This is not good.

My next task is to complete the renovations of my 2010 NaNo project and find it a solid home, so it can see daylight. Then, of course, the marketing and promo will start all over again, and I hope it will have a solid landing strip already laid by my first five available works.

Along side that, I must keep chugging along on my new fiction project, which is proving to be a challenge but an exciting one - I will share details soonish, I promise. Today, I spent four hours writing on it, and I feel like a million bucks!

Constantly pushing finished product is not healthy. If I am not producing, I am merely a former writer, and not a writer in the present. Stats and sales are great - but nothing beats looking forward to a new release!

So, that is the state of the union at the moment.

More details as they come...

What's Up in Anne's World?

So, yes, these past four or five weeks, I admit the daily blog thing hasn't been happening. This term, I am teaching two courses, with a total of 160 students, so my time is tight - mixed with my actual writing, my son, my academic and freelance writing, several flus/colds, and general life stuff. Blogging seemed to be a low-maintenance victim to the need to sleep occasionally. I have some hope of things evening out now that a few projects have been beaten into submission, but there's always another project, right?

I very briefly considered getting out of blogging altogether - and, indeed, out of writing fiction for publication, since it (along with the required hours of promotion and networking) seemed to be a full time job in itself, which would make it my third full time gig.

However, I am still around. Actually, I have been fairly productive, just perhaps not in ways that are readily visible at the moment.

So, I would like to share with you some nice news - I have another release coming very soon; a Valentine's Day erotic-romance short, with heavy doses of comedy, called V-Day, which will be released by Wicked Nights on February 11! The cover looks pretty great (see above), and I have to give lots of kudos to the brave folks at Wicked for accepting a book that is... well... Non-traditional is one way to describe it. You'll see when you read it. It's not your common erotic-romance.

V-Day is told through the eyes of a lovesick young man, Daniel, who spends his life in pursuit of musical excellence, hemmed in by his nutty family, who could all use a bit of a break from each other. V-Day is the story of a Valentine's Day weekend he will never, ever forget, where he becomes decidedly un-Daniellike. And it all starts with an impromptu performance of one of my favourite pieces, Beethoven's Romance No 2 in F Major.

Even if I do say so myself, that scene is particularly sweet.

In other news, my novel, Strings Attached (Wild Horse Press) is still planned for release in May 2011, which is fast approaching, at long last - edits and such will continue, and I really hope you like it. Soon, I hope to have another full length ready to submit. And, with V-Day, I am continuing on my planned five story holiday themed series for Wicked, and am already formulating something really grand for St Patrick's Day.

I am also gearing up for some major website revamping over the next little while in anticipation of promoting my full length, so I will be sharing some news about that as the next month or so rolls along.

I also got a few good reviews recently, which really made my day, and I look forward to getting my work out there a bit more, and will really try to do some more guest blogging very soon. Unwrapping Scrooge (Decadent Publishing) got three cups from Coffee Time Romance, and reviewer Patrizia Murray at Manic Readers gave Good for the Goose 4.5 stars out of 5, calling the sexual buildup "mesmerizing" (which I think may be the nicest compliment my writing ever received). These were great boosts for me, and weighed positively in my decision to stay in the ring a bit longer.

As long as people are enjoying my writing, I am glad to keep doing it.

Anyway, so that is what's up around here. My son and I are starting to defeat the random colds and flus, and things are getting back on track. I am so grateful to all the authors who have visited the blog and kept it alive during my radio silence, and I hope you enjoyed meeting some writers, and continue to discover some new favourites through their posts on this blog.

I hope all is well out there, and please stay tuned for more from me as the weeks progress - including new excerpts, trailers and news!

Hugs and kisses,
Anne

2010 in Review: The Trailers

August 2010

My advance trailer for Strings Attached, which comes out with Wild Horse Press in 2011. The music was composed by James McCall, and you can find info about his new album at his website www.jamesmccall.bandcamp.com. The photo is courtesy of Dave Dyet, www.dyet.com.

(My very first trailer attempt.)

~*~


October 2010

The trailer for my paranormal erotic release, Waking Kara, available from Wild Horse Press Liquid Heat.

~*~


November 2010

Trailer for my upcoming erotic Christmas romance, Good for the Goose, available from Wicked Nights: After Dark.

~*~


December 2010

The trailer for my romantic comedy ebook for Christmas, Unwrapping Scrooge, released from Decadent Publishing.


***

Subscribe to my YouTube channel to keep updated on the trailers coming in 2011!

Wild Horse Press, Wicked Nights and Decadent Publishing

A word about my e-pubbing and my publishers.

Much has been said about e-book companies, some good and some derisive, but I am one of those who made e-books my first choice. This was partly because I respond better to smaller businesses, and like being a part of an independent venture - I find independent companies are more willing to work with everybody attached to a project, as a general rule. Primarily, however, I chose e-books because you don't need an agent, and my first attempt at publishing was an experiment; I had a manuscript, and I just wanted to see if someone found it worth publishing. I wasn't in it to write full time right away - I just wanted to see if someone would accept that first novel. When someone did, it was fast. I got word back within a month of submission, a turnover that would be impossible in traditional brick-n-mortar publishing, where the two years in the slush pile is the norm.

Two years of waiting, while life moves on, is simply not conducive to an experiment.

So, e-publishing was for me, straight away. Would I love to move into paperbacks? Sure. I will be thrilled when my current companies move into paper (like WHP has started to do, and Wicked Nights will be doing this year), and I wouldn't say no to a chance to publish something with a big print company someday, now that I know I'd like to stick with my writing for a while. But the general practice of e-publishing, of taking quality works fairly efficiently, and letting new authors get considered for publication without the work of an agent, was best for me at first, and will remain so for a while yet.

I won't be seeking an agent until I decide to write full time, if I ever do. So, e-pubbing is for me.

I now have works out with three e-pubs. I have two other companies in mind for current works in progress, but I am sure I will work with these companies again. Right now, I have my short paranormal erotic Waking Kara and my upcoming full length, Strings Attached, with Wild Horse Press; I have Good for the Goose with Wicked Nights' erotica line, After Dark, and I plan on a further series of holiday erotica with them (in the hopes of benefiting from their move to print). I have only one short Christmas romance, Unwrapping Scrooge, with Decadent Publishing, but I would love to work with them more.

Wild Horse took the very first chance on me, and has been instrumental on me staying in writing, and doing more. I have also met some of the most important writing friends I have through my association with this company, and the more experienced writers have been wonderful at helping me figure out where I am going. WHP is open to all of my creative suggestions, and, despite how busy life is for a publisher, they have remained enthusiastic and happy to hear from me. I owe WHP a lot.

My second company, Wicked Nights, was a heaven sent chance. I had a book that needed to go out by Christmas, and was in a panic because it was growing too long for the anthology for which it had originally been planned. I turned to Stacey Thompson-Geer, one of the authors at WHP, for advice, and she welcomed me to Wicked Nights with open arms. For a small, new company, Wicked Nights is getting it together - slick, determined and fresh, Wicked Nights has a strong future, and I am pleased to get in at the ground level.

My third company, Decadent, was a long shot for me. I knew they were quite powerful and "major league" for a startup, and, unlike Wicked, I didn't know anyone working there. But, I had Christmas romance that needed a home, and WHP simply couldn't accept any more submissions for 2010, as they were packed. Sitting with this romance, I was thinking to send it to Wicked, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to have two releases at one company within weeks of each other. I found Decadent, and was considering it when a happy Decadent author on Facebook gave me a nudge of encouragement, so I sent it off. I knew this book was strong, but I admit I wasn't sure it would be accepted. Then came word - Yes! Unwrapping Scrooge would have a home at Decadent!

I have really enjoyed my time with Decadent. They have lovely covers (which is important, despite the old adage), extremely rigorous editorial quality control, and they also do a bit more promotion than a lot of e-book companies do, which is great for a new author on a budget. They also have an incredibly supportive and active author community who have embraced me as one of their own, even though I am, at the moment, a one-short author with the company.

I would gladly work with all three of these companies again, and very likely will if I can come up with more works they like. Sure, my sales have been moderate at best, which is the price one does tend to pay for e-pubbing, and, in time, I might have been more successful (if you measure that in dollars or stats) had I been miraculously discovered in the slush pile two or three years from now... But I wouldn't have been happier.

And I wouldn't have been more keyed up, that's for sure. Right now, I have a great deal of enthusiasm for my avocation, which might not have been the case if I felt my publishing lacked momentum. Right now, I can feel the rise - when I Google myself, I get more and more hits, and I feel like putting out all of these works are starting to pay off. I may never be Nora Roberts, but that's okay - she has the big times all sewn up. I'm happy producing good work with small, intimate companies.

So, wherever I head now, and whether things work out with the other companies I have in mind, or if I never hit the big times, I am putting things out there, and proud of them all. I will always remain grateful to all of the companies who see in my work something worth taking a chance on.

2010 has been good to me. I wish us all the very best in 2011!

A Little Good News

Good for the Goose just got a strong review from Tyhada's Place!

http://tyhadas-place.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-good-for-goose-by-anne-holly.html?zx=8c4c282f6948eb6a