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!

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

A Preview of 2011

2010 was a pretty great year, with three shorts released and a full length excepted. The New Year brought a lot more work in other areas of my life, but writing is still in the works. So, what's up for me this year, writing-wise?

Holiday Shorts Series for Wicked Nights: Following up on my Christmas erotic romance, Good for the Goose, I hope to add four more sweet and spicy shorts to this collection, hitting Valentine's Day, St Patrick's Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving. My February one is in draft form now - a shy young man with unexpected romantic depths shares an unforgettable V'Day with the girl next door.

Fall 2010's Full Length: This contemporary romance, which was written in rough during NaNo, is the passionate, and at times awkward, story about a determined anti-romance single mom who unwillingly falls for an almost-too-goof-to-be-true single dad. Between her job and his teen daughter, the course of true love is not only not smooth but seems to lead right up the wall. (But, between you and me, I think they'll make it.) This manuscript is in editing right now, and will soon be ready for a beta reader. I have a publisher in mind, so I hope to submit it by spring. Your guess is as good as mine as far as release date, but I will certainly keep you posted.

Winter 2011's Full Length: This is a paranormal/contemporary romance - a school psychologist may have to come clean about her family's well-guarded secrets in order to help a young girl with a troubling stalker. One her stubborn and broken father doesn't even want to acknowledge. This book has been outlined and is in the process of a rough draft.

I also have a novella planned for Spring 2011, and full lengths for Summer 2011 and Fall 2011 (my next NaNo work!), but don't expect them released any time soon - except maybe the novella.

And, of course, my full length contemporary romance, Strings Attached, will be released in May 2011 from Wild Horse Press!

Stay tuned for the results of these efforts, as well as snippets from them as they roll out of my brain.

I hope to continue making love stories you will love!

The Gatekeeper Series By Stacey Thompson-Geer and Stevie Trinity

A note from Stacey Thompson-Geer on her upcoming release:

~*~

This series is about two strong women who have families and lives but when the world breaks, they are forced into fulfilling a bigger destiny. They are charged with closing doorways that have been opened to other layers of the worlds.

These women have real world issues within their families as well as facing supernatural entities that want to kill them and their families. Readers will be introduced to strong women, magick and the beginning of an underlying love story with both women.

The series starts in January with The Gatekeeper Series: Lynn. A short story letting readers understand Lynn a bit more. Each month a new short will be released until the first novel, The Gatekeeper Series: Dark Magick in June 2011.


Excerpt from The Gatekeeper Series: Lynn

I have been a warrior my entire existence. From the very first life I lived, I knew this to be true. My purpose is not my own. I’m to save people that are not ready to see the truth, not ready for the world that seems to have unraveled around them.

I walked past the dying plants in front of my new home, a hut made from trees and leaves. It wasn’t much, but it did the job against the cold Wyoming winters. I couldn’t help but wonder what the hurry was about. Normally we had a little time, but the way Rhea had sounded this time we didn’t.

I knocked and opened the handmade wooden door. A woman with long blond hair sat with her back to me, mixing herbs and at a small table. She didn’t turn to face me, but spoke. “I had a another vision.” She continued with what she was doing.

“I know. Their getting worse, aren’t they?” I stepped closer to her as I spoke.

She ignored me and kept going, “You have to go to Canada.”

“Great, more snow.” I joked fiddling with an open spot on the wall.

She turned to me and cocked an eyebrow. “There’s a group there. They don’t understand what’s happening.”

“Are they underground?” I didn’t look her way.

“No, but they’ll be hostile.”

“What else is new?” I snorted.

“One of them is important.” She didn’t look away from me. “I just don’t know which one.”

“Perfect. So, I have to get a whole group of people out of a very Demon occupied country and get back with all of them alive? Awesome.” I sighed.

“Demons aren’t the only thing there, you know,” she smarted off. I made a face at her and started for the door. “You should take Miles with you. He’s good.”

I didn’t say anything but stopped for a moment. “You’ll watch my kids?”

“You know I will.” She said smiling slightly and I dropped my gaze to the floor. This was not the kind of news I wanted to hear. Just one day off would be nice once and a while.

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!

Wicked Christmas and More

Wicked Nights has a lot of great books for the Christmas season. We are bringing you, the reader, a couple of paranormal goodies as well as some old fashioned fun.

Good For The Goose was our first in the Christmas round up written by your own Anne Holly. This story is one of my favorites in the Christmas line up, because of the realness I feel when I'm reading it. This one is out now for your enjoyment. :)

Wicked Christmas is a group of four Christmas stories that center around a party thrown by the Vampire Zachary Halback. He's trying to fish up information on what each group of Supernatural beings, but finds he's met his match in a rough and tough Order of the Phoenix, Nina. There is also a Witch casting spells and falling in love with a Werewolf, a Demon that finds love with a human and an old Vampire love recaptured. The first two of this series – Sex On The Beach, Christmas Style by Julie Lynn Hayes and Aloha Christmas by Ashlynn Monroe are available now. Look for Christmas Bounty by Stacey Thompson-Geer and The Curse by Angel to be out in the next two weeks.

All I Want For Christmas by Scarlet Rose is also a great little Christmas story about a Selia. She can't stand Christmas and just wants to get home to her Ice Cream and cozy apartment. When she runs into Santa Clause on the way home, she makes a wish she won't soon forget. Available now.

Eternal Gift by Ashlynn Monroe is the story of a Christmas party gone wrong. Angelica meets a mysterious man at her office Christmas party, a man who wants to taste her in every way possible. When an accident takes everyone she loves away and leaves her on the brink of death, she receives the darkest of Christmas gifts.

All of these Christmas stories are sure to warm up your cold nights this holiday season. Check out www.wickednights.info as well as All Romance Ebooks, 1place For Romance, Amazon, and Barnes and Nobles.

Don't miss the 12 days of Giveaways through Dec 14th. There are tons of great prizes to win and something so big it has to be sent to your house.

- Stacey Thompson-Geer,

Founder of Wicked Nights

Unwrapping Scrooge Reviewed on Must Love Books

A big thank you to Ashlynn Monroe for giving a shout out about how much she enjoyed Unwrapping Scrooge (under its old title) on the BlogTalkRadio show Must Love Books. Ashlynn's guest tonight was publisher-author Stacey Thompson-Geer, owner of Wicked Nights!

I am so thrilled Ashlynn liked the book so much! It's such a kick to hear from readers, be they writers themselves or not, and I hope everyone will let me know how they like my stuff.

You can hear the show here.

Excerpt Sunday: Good for the Goose

Here's a little bit of the romance from my holiday erotic-romance, Good for the Goose, recently released from Wicked Nights: After Dark.

If there is one thing sexier than a 23 year old Spaniard, Natasha mused, 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, his mission was accomplished with extraordinary zeal and success.

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

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

With him, cooking was a protracted, joyous process, indeed - as much talking was done as chopping, and they laughed even more. While prone to dimpled charm, Raphael at the department was usually a very controlled, reserved young man, 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 felt with another human in some time.

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

Smelling the onion-rich steam from the rice and the garlicky aroma of the salmon, her 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 was the way to a man's heart, she smiled – on her it was a way to some other very interesting organs, as well.

Available from Amazon and several other booksellers.

(Not suitable for readers under 18.)

12 Days of Prizes!

Head on over to the Wicked Nights website - if you leave a comment, you could win one of a whole whack of neat prizes, all the way up to December 14!

(Including a copy of my holiday erotic-romance, Good for the Goose!)

Good for the Goose Trailer!

Here it is - the brand new trailer for my Christmas erotic-romance, Good for the Goose, which will be released by Wicked Night's erotica line, After Dark, this Friday.

Good for the Goose is a spicy story of a woman, Natasha, who thought she was living her dream - she had worked up to a respected teaching position at a university, had a stable, successful husband, and a solid life... Until her husband runs off with one of his students, and she is left wondering what the point was of being good all those years. Enter Raphael, a graduate student in her department from Spain, and one of the hottest, sweetest heroes I have ever written. Passionate, bold and intrigued by Natasha... And ready, willing and eager to show her what more there can be to life. Natasha learns that sometimes it's very nice to be naughty.

A passionate May-December romance that encompasses the romance and joy of Christmas and the caliente sizzle of a sexual reawakening tale, Good for the Goose shows how what is good for the gander can be very good for Natasha!

This title will be available at Amazon and ARE, among other sellers, as well as on the Wicked Nights website. For more information, please see the Wicked Nights website or their current catalog. You can also find a small excerpt on my erotica website, Anne Holly's Dark Side.

More details will come here on the release day, this Friday, so please join me!

And have a Wicked little Christmas. ;)

PROMO: Good for the Goose

Watch this blog next week for the release of my new holiday erotic-romance short, Good for the Goose, coming from Wicked Nights After Dark on November 19!

With luck, I will be releasing the trailer soon.

Discover New Worlds

Explore Wild Horse Press and Wicked Nights to find new authors, new books and new loves!

News!

Well, not only do I have my new release announced recently from Wicked Nights, but I just today got another holiday short accepted from another company - details to follow after the paper work all goes through! I am very excited that these two great stories will make it into print in time for Christmas 2010, and I hope you enjoy them!

In sundry tidbits, I have done a few more interviews, so those should run soon - I will link them when they show up. And I will be guest blogging at Wicked Muses soon, as well. In addition, I may have a few new covers to show you soon, so that's always exciting. I have been taking a short break from writing, but will be hitting the keys again very soon. I am behind in updating my websites, so I will get to that very soon, when I can keep my eyes open.

Also... In other news... I just officially joined NaNo!

*gulp*

Wicked Nights - NEW Websites!

FYI, the e-publisher of things that go MMMMM in the night Wicked Nights has moved URL, and has added a new site to house its erotica line, which will soon feature Yours Truly!

Wicked Nights has been online for almost a year. We started as a free read website and expanded to a royalty paying publisher. The free reads are still active on the website and can be found through Amazon blogs. Right now we have a small staff of editors. Lori Titus is our main editor at the moment. I also will jump in and edit when there is a need. :)

We are looking for Historical Romance as well as Contemporary Romance and Erotica in all sizes. We also are looking for ongoing serial works of 4000 words or less for our Wicked Bites line. Horror, SciFi and Young Adult are also open for submissions.

We believe readers want a fun engaging story. Whether the story has erotic elements or just a fun and adventurous side, it should keep the reader wanting more. :)

We are a pretty tight group. We have group projects from time to time and everyone seems to get along well. We like to give our authors some freedom with their work. After all, this is their book. We just help to make it happen. :)

We have a cover artist that does most of the cover work. Tara Drew-Bates takes on a lot of the covers we have. I also will do the art from time to time and authors always have the option to do their own with our approval.

So visit their main homepage at wickednights.info and their erotica site, Wicked Nights: After Dark, at afterdark.wickednights.info!

Check out their site for ways to win a free 99 cent book - sale ends tomorrow (Oct 23)!

You never know what you'll find in the night!