I got the cover for my Pocket Books release, Royal Bondage. I am sooooo thankful that it looks extremely classy. I was afraid with the title as it is, it was going to involve something with handcuffs or some other BDSM equipment. You can see it is the hero’s bond to his queen, which is exactly the premise in Scorpion King…among other things. Nicely done, Pocket!
In light of this and the RT Top Pick (I am not tired of saying that!), I am scrambling to work on a sequel to Crossed Swords to pitch to NY. Not many ebooks get Top Picks these days, especially in the market now dominated by NY pubs and their hot lines of romances. My hope from this “second chance” (as my first Top Pick was in 2004 with Descendants of Darkness) is to make the break into NY for myself. Believe me, I am thrilled with the Pocket antho, but it was arranged by EC. I want something for me alone…for my books. If I was to write hot for NY, I much rather do it writing historical.
I did hear a while back the rumors of EC not publishing historicals anymore. This came about the month they released Crossed Swords in ebook. I was puzzled. I was never given an indication they didn’t want it. I am glad they did though. I am proud of Crossed Swords and I am extremely anxious to see it come out in print. When? I was told Pirate’s Mistress is in production but no actual release date was given to me. So…I will try to be patient. I will try. I will. Over 2 years waiting for my own print book from EC, it is a little difficult to wait. But I will try. I will.
Meanwhile, work on the sequel is underway. All I can say is the tentative title, which is By the Sword.
I found out tonight my novel, CROSSED SWORDS, is a RT Top Pick!! I can’t believe it. I mean, I was floored years ago when DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS (2004) was a Top Pick, but I never expected to EVER see it happen again. I love this book very much and I hoped readers would too. Maybe the whole m/f erotic coupling isn’t dead afterall. Nor historical erotica! Yay!
Now, I need to seriously think about the sequel, huh?
Hmm…maybe I CAN write erotic.
Heh…word is Silk’s is only changing servers. What, forget to pay the bill on the current one? Oops, did I say that? Somehow, I’m not surprised at the news, as disappointing as it is.
As for DCL troubles….I left and glad I did. ‘Nuff said. It is a shame. The niche is a neat one, which is what initially attracted me. However, the other things….not so much. I do like Pam and the rest of the staff, just in light of poor sales, how nice they are isn’t what pays the bills.
This weekend I read a lot. I read Bella Signorina (The Wild Rose Press), In the Shadow of the Selkie (Samhain), and The Wealthy Frenchman’s Proposition (Sil. Desire). I enjoyed all of them.
Bella Signorina is a short contemporary set in Italy about passion fueled by undeniable attraction. It is sweet yet sensual. I enjoyed it but I wished it was longer. The characters were interesting and I would have liked to have spent more time with them as their romance developed.
In the Shadow of the Selkie is a unique premise of selkie vampires. I loved it! It is steeped in mythology and magic, and the chemistry between Theo and Roane sizzles. They find passion when tossed together into a marriage neither wanted. Love blossoms as each must reveal their secrets within their hearts. This book would be a lovely beginning to a possible series. The love scenes are extremely hot but do not spill over into kinky, which is refreshing.
Lastly, The Wealthy Frenchman’s Proposition is a contemporary rich-man-wants-his-assistant-in-his-bed story. I liked it a lot. I like those “In love with the boss” Cinderella stories, and that is exactly what this was. Sheri blooms from the style-challenged frump to an elegant woman. Tristan discovers loving after losing his wife is very possible. It is interesting to see the characters grow together as well as inwardly. Nicely done.
All these books were very good, and I do recommend them.
E-Books I just bought to read for March: Hard and Fast by Lisa Rene Jones, The Warlord’s Mistress by Juliet Landon, Unbound by Lori Devoti, Guardian’s Keep by Lori Devoti, Captured by the Billionaire by Maureen Child, and The Texan’s Contested Calim by Peggy Moreland. And of course, my Harlequin Presents, but in paperback.
Karen’s blog (yeah, you KNOW you visit Karen) tipped off the demise of Silk’s Vault. Gee, let me act surprised. ……wait……wait………. Nope, not surprised. Well, let’s see if it don’t pop up again like Ocean’s Mist Press. (THAT is a whole other story to confuse you and make you ponder WTF. Yeah, I was at both those places in the past and pulled my books. More sad encounters.)
The most interesting posting I saw over at Emily Veinglory’s site on epubs is the talk about Dark Castle Lords. I know I never got paid for the few copies I sold of Lord Sancho. I pulled my book last year due to abysmal sales. I never got paid, nor do I expect to. Not worth my time or effort to be paid less than $5.00.
I will say the talk of $200+ payments from authors for the use of model pictures is disturbing. Boy, things have changed since I was there. I didn’t pay for Sly on my cover. I don’t think that whole “pay a mint for the model” was in place. Wow.
Sad. Very sad.
I think the lesson I’ve learned over the past few years is to depend on your instincts. Don’t hesitate to run and run fast when you think business dealings are not as they should be.