News for May, 2013

I know it’s unconscionably late, but I’ve been doing exciting things. I’ve been at the RT Convention in Kansas City and before that I was in Washington, researching for a new trilogy I’m planning. More vampires!
Before I went to the States, I went to St. Hilda's College, Oxford, to talk about writing for the US market. I know, Oxford University! They put me up for the night in a tutor's room with a view over the meadows to Trinity College.
Then I attended the London Book Fair, very interesting, and all new to me, before I went home for three days to repack for my American adventure.
RT was great, but the gossip was fairly low-key or quiet. There are some publishers to avoid, some up and coming, and the turmoil surrounding epub, self-publishing and traditional publishing was more or less non-controversial here. Maybe that’s because RT has always taken a tolerant attitude to epublishing and has had an epublishing strand since my first year, 2007. I know, the Dark Ages!
For me, the convention started with the Boot Camp, where I taught Goal, Motivation, Conflict with Linnea Sinclair and Stacey Kade and then Dialogue with the equally awesome Kathy Lyons (Jade Lee). I really enjoyed my teaching, and I think the students enjoyed the boot camp, too. that evening I co-hosted a new event, a reception for the international visitors. Yes, for those of you who asked, even Canada! It was a really great opportunity to meet the visitors from overseas and over-border, and to connect for the first time this convention. I’m afraid a lovely lady walked through the door and said, when I asked, “I’m from Canada but I was originally from Wales.” At which point I yelled, “You’re Mary Balogh!” Yes, Mary Balogh came to my party! She even talked to me later, too, so I didn’t completely take her ears out when I told her something she knew already.
We went on to the equally awesome Aussie dinner, and I sat at the same table as Jennifer Blake, though I managed to keep my fangirling to a minimum there. The legends of romance, especially historical romance, were all over RT this year. I even managed to meet Laura Kinsale, one of my inspirations.
The Ellora’s Cave party, being Disco themed was right up my street. The Cavemen were awesome, even the Poor Baby at the end who had difficulty keeping his steps in time! The dance floor after the routine was packed. There might be some pictures of me online, but you can ignore them, they were a wicked imposter!
I did the virgins this year. More particularly, I did the class that oriented the newcomers to RT. They were a terrific bunch this year. I had a great RT. The atmosphere and the attendees were terrific, and everybody had smiles on their faces.
I am now staying at the house of the amazing Desiree Holt, who couldn’t attend RT this year, but she is fine and thriving and writing, writing, writing.
Okay, now to other news, about my new release this month.

Nice ‘n’ Easy is the new release in the Nightstar series. I had such a blast writing these books that I’ve agreed to write another, about the manager, Chick Fontaine. But that’s in the future. We now have the story of Donovan Harvey, the British bass player for Murder City Ravens, currently on the Nightstar tour, but he has a secret – he’s also the author of a popular graphic novel.

Nightstar, Book 3
Heart-stoppingly sexy Donovan Harvey, bassist for Murder City Ravens, is also a writer. At his first fantasy convention, he wants to launch his new book, not find the love of his life. He gets both.
Allie, unabashed fan and book editor, can’t believe she’s locking lips with the bassist for the hottest band, but sometime during their first searingly hot encounter she discovers Donovan the man, not the rock musician, and she’s even more smitten.
They can’t get enough of each other. In the shower, against the wall, even in bed, Donovan talks during sex, leading Allie through fantasies she’d never imagined before, presenting her with scenarios she can’t resist, setting her alight with steamy stories he’ll never share with anyone else. She inspires him. He gives her ideas.
But Murder City Ravens is on a world tour, and Allie needs to stay in New York if she’s to make a success of her career. When her company asks her to poach Donovan from his current publisher, Allie hesitates, but her boss makes it impossible for her to refuse without losing her job.

ISBN 9781419939921
Buy from Ellora’s Cave: http://www.ellorascave.com/nice-n-easy.html 
Buy from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nice-Easy-Nightstar-ebook/dp/B00CJFY79E
Extract and details: http://www.lynneconnolly.com/NicenEasy.html

New Release! Nice 'n' Easy

Today sees the release of the third Nightstar book, Nice 'n' Easy! Donovan Harvey, the bassist for Murder City Ravens has a secret life.

Book Three in the Nightstar series.Heart-stoppingly sexy Donovan Harvey, bassist for Murder City Ravens, is also a writer. At his first fantasy convention, he wants to launch his new book, not find the love of his life. He gets both.

Allie, unabashed fan and book editor, can’t believe she’s locking lips with the bassist for the hottest band, but sometime during their first searingly hot encounter she discovers Donovan the man, not the rock musician, and she’s even more smitten.

They can’t get enough of each other. In the shower, against the wall, even in bed, Donovan talks during sex, leading Allie through fantasies she’d never imagined before, presenting her with scenarios she can’t resist, setting her alight with steamy stories he’ll never share with anyone else. She inspires him. He gives her ideas.

But Murder City Ravens is on a world tour, and Allie needs to stay in New York if she’s to make a success of her career. When her company asks her to poach Donovan from his current publisher, Allie hesitates, but her boss makes it impossible for her to refuse without losing her job.

A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

 Get it here - coming to Amazon soon!

and there's an excerpt here!

News for April

On to the news. There is some this month, a goodly bundle.

First, thank you so much for making my venture into self-publishing so successful. While I only skim the top selling lists, and lucky to do so, I’m still doing nicely, and, much to my surprise, with the Regencies most of all. I know they have spiffy new covers, but not much else has changed, and yet they’re finding a new lease of life. After I’d been told that there wasn’t the market for Regencies that there used to be, and nobody wanted “historical” historicals any more, their success has bowled me over and delighted me.

So much that I’ve started writing a new Regency. My first for years. This is a book that has to be a Regency, it wouldn’t work so well in any other era, because the dilemmas faced by the characters were ones faced by many in the era. I’ve wanted to tackle it for a while, but I thought the genre was dying. Not for me. I don’t plan to sell this one on, either, I’m planning to self-publish it, when it’s ready. I have an editor lined up, and the cover art, so all I have to do is write it! I’m feeling more optimistic about the historical genre than I have for a long time.

However, I haven’t abandoned the contemporaries and the paranormals. Finally after all this time, I’m beginning to sense where I am in the market and where I need to go. As an author of mainly m/f paranormals, on the hot side, I think the publishers I have now are about right for that. I do the occasional genre, but not m/m. For me, anyway, there has to be a woman in there somewhere. I read m/m’s and love them, but I don’t write them so well. Some people have a real gift for it.

I’ve just had an offer of a new contract for the next and last book in the Symbiotics series. “Journey of the Senses” is about Jim Goddard, the younger brother of the heroine of the first book, “Texas Heat.” This brings the series about strong men, women with minds of their own and kinky sex full circle. I had absolutely no idea it was going to turn into a series when I started it, but sales have been great, which means you like them.

There are also new Nightstar books coming up, and this month sees the release of Nice ‘n’ Easy, about the sexy bass player, Donovan, and the woman he meets at a Sci-fi and Fantasy convention. I’ll post an excerpt and details nearer the time, because it doesn’t come out until the 24^th. I’ve been delighted by how well this series has been received, and I think rock musicians are most definitely for me!

http://www.ellorascave.com/nice-n-easy.html

And here’s my busy, busy month. If you’re anywhere in the vicinity of these places, do give me a call or email. Or just come and see me!

On the 13^th, I’m talking to some students at Oxford University at the “Pitch Across The Pond” one day conference.

On the 14^th, I’m travelling to London and on the 15^th and the 16^th, I’m attending the London Book Fair. On the 16^th I’m signing books and chatting at the Ellora’s Cave booth. I’ve never been to the LBF before, so it should be lots of fun!

On the 21^st, I’m flying out to Washington, DC for a few days looking around the capital. I’m planning a trilogy in the STORM universe set in the city, so it’s part research, part, just because I’m dying to see the place.

On the 28^th, I’m flying to Kansas City for the RT Booklovers’ Convention. I’m teaching at the Boot Camp (GMC and dialogue – with cockneys and puppets, or perhaps it’s cockney puppets!). I’m opening the convention with RT owner Kathryn Falk, on the first-timer’s class, then I’m signing at both the Expo and the Book Fair on the Saturday.

After that, I’m flying to Texas for some down time and some research with my friends Desiree Holt and Kathryn Falk. Last year I discovered that I love Texas. It’s like nowhere else I’ve ever visited. And by then it will be May, so it’s going to be hot! I could do without the palmetto bugs, though.

So next month’s newsletter could be a bit late, although I’ll try to get it sorted out when I can. I’m planning to do my usual daily blog from RT over at The Good, The Bad and The Unread, so check up on my impressions of RT there!

After that, I’m going to sleep for a week, then I’m going to write, write, write!

Pitch Across the Pond

Look where I'm going to be on the 13th April! Just before the London Book Fair, check it out!

Here's the link: http://www.oxfordauthorcourses.com/

Pitch your novel across the Pond and Beyond

Oxford Author Courses tell you how to do it

You've written your novel, and you want to sell it into the biggest and most prestigious markets in the world. But you don't know how to begin, or what to do. Attend Oxford Author Courses' day-long crash course, Pitch Across the Pond and Beyond, at St. Hilda's College, Oxford on 13th April and you'll come away knowing exactly what you should do.

You'll hear from a very savvy and highly successful US agent who'll tell you what's hot and what's not.  Christine Witthohn is founder of Book Cents Agency, which she started in 2006. Her approach is simple: she loves a great story, but more importantly wants to be the one to sell it. She represents both published and unpublished authors.

Stéphane Marsan, founder of successful, independent French publisher, Bragelonne will talk about the kind of books that have made his company such a force within the French publishing industry. Fresh from the Paris Book Fair (held late March) he's actively looking for books in romance, horror, fantasy and young adult genres. Come and hear what he's looking for now and how to submit your novel to his company -  and don't worry, Bragelonne do the translation!

Lynne Connolly is a British author who sells almost exclusively to the American market. She writes sexy, sophisticated romance in contemporary, historical and paranormal genres. Lynne writes mainly for digital-first publishers in the USA. It was her agent who suggested she try America when her first book was turned down in England. She it to the USA, it was accepted and she's never looked back. She'll tell you how she made herself successful in America with tips and hints of how to approach this biggest and richest of all English speaking markets.

Other bestselling British authors, who specialise in pitching, selling and marketing their work abroad, will tell you their secrets: how they do it - and continue to do it.

What works for other countries?

Writing for different cultures and countries means looking at your work differently. Phrasing and spelling may be different and the words themselves can have another meaning in an overseas market.

The cover artwork and blurb are vitally important, as is the book description. The cultural differences mean that you have to choose your words and images carefully - what might work in the UK won't necessarily work elsewhere.

On this one-day crash course, an editor who spends most of the time working with US authors and publishers will give you good writing and editorial advice on how to avoid the pitfalls.

Do you write thrillers, romance, historicals, horror, fantasy? Is your book a tense conspiracy thrilller like Flowertown (agented by Christine), a steamy sensuous paranormal (Stèphane loves paranormals and urban fantasy), or a mysterious nineteen-thirties historical? Come and learn which genres, locations and periods have international appeal.

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Which way to go - traditional, independent or self-publish?

Publishing is changing, so how do you choose which route is best for you? Do you go traditional, independent, e-press or self-publish? What works best where? We'll put the facts before you and help you decide.

Good news: both Christine and Stéphane work with self published authors.

It's our aim to give you a fact packed day and send you away buzzing with ideas and enthusiasm for venturing away from the UK's shores and into larger, more profitable markets. Broaden your horizons for just £120* with Oxford Author Courses Pitch Across the Pond and Beyond day.     

For more details and booking form go to http://www.oxfordauthorcourses.com.

*Discount available for writers' groups as detailed on the website.

For further information please contact:

Maggi Fox

Press Officer

Oxford Author Courses

maggi@oxfordauthorcourses.com

07770 75481

            Of course writing for different cultures means that words mean different things and the panel of experts advise on how to avoid pitfalls and provide the best manuscript that you can for the overseas audience that you're targeting.

The biggest party in Europe

"Vanessa" is the first book I had published. Not the first accepted for publication, but it beat the publication of "Yorkshire" by a month or two. It was with a different publisher, one of the good guys of the early days, Awe-Struck. With the original publishers sold up to another, "Vanessa" became less important to them and eventually I thought I'd like to see how it did if I gussied it up a bit and put it out again.
So this is in the nature of a relaunch.
It's a book I loved every minute of writing. I fell for my hero and heroine, so much that it was hard to give them conflicts, but conflicts they must have, and they rose above them together.
I became fascinated by the Congress of Vienna. It was one huge party, held from the first fall of Napoleon through to Waterloo and then it recommenced afterward. It was to organize Europe after Napoleon had made a mess of it, but being held in Vienna, all the great and good and not-so-good flocked there.
Into this arrived Chris, Lord Vesey, and his new wife Vanessa. Chris is a diplomat, and Vanessa is the woman he married because, she thinks, he has decided that she'll make a good political wife. But there's so much more than that. Chris also does a little spying work for his country, as diplomats sometimes did, and this leads them into very dark waters indeed.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the revitalised version as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Here's the description:

First love, or last?

In the fateful year of 1815 Vanessa, the new Lady Vesey, accompanies her diplomat husband Christopher to the Congress of Vienna. Newly married and trying to forget her previous life, Vanessa is confronted by her lost love, Emery Graham. Unsure of her feelings for her husband, or his for her, will Vanessa decide to throw in her lot with Emery or stay with Chris?
Thrown into a desperate mission to save the life of the man she loves, Vanessa has to face her deepest fears.

There's an excerpt here.
And the Amazon Kindle page is here.

March news!

So far, so very interesting!

March has crested the horizon, leaving February, and with any luck the snow, behind. It’s really cold over here, but I’m keeping busy planning my trip to the US in April. I’m so looking forward to it! As well as the fun of the RT Convention, I’m visiting Washington, DC and friends in Texas, including the totes amaze Kathryn Falk, who owns RT.

Can’t wait, but in the meantime, I’m getting busy with books. I’ve had another release, ‘Brutally Beautiful,’ the story I was asked to write! When I wrote ‘Stripped Bare,’ I introduced a character called Mick O’Donnell, a brutal gang lord from Liverpool. I never thought anyone but me would be interested in the shaved bald, muscle-shirt and bling-wearing Mick, but boy, was I wrong! So when I decided to write his story, encouraged by the letters I was getting and my editor, I had a problem. How do I make Mick, who runs girls and drugs into Liverpool, into a romance hero?

Simple; make him a poetry professor. So how does a man go from being a ruthless gang leader into a poetry professor? When the East Europeans muscle in on his territory, Mick knows more than his business is in danger, so he liquidates his assets, changes his name and moves to New York, where he hopes they won’t find him.

Of course he finds the love of his life and trouble waiting for him, but only when he’s close to achieving his goal—to become a legitimate US citizen.

There’s only one more book to write in the Symbiotics series, and as usual at the end of a series, I’m sad. I don’t like saying goodbye to characters, but I also don’t like to drag a series on and on when it seems to have come to an end. Some series, like Dept 57, are planned to continue, so that the Department is a world rather than an end in itself. Some are more finite, like Pure Wildfire or Nightstar, but others have possibilities I’ve only just begun to explore.

I’ve also released a backlist book on Amazon. “Laura,” a Regency romance. I loved writing this book, and I’ve gained a lovely review on Amazon. I’ve learned from my self-published friends that to do really well on Amazon I need reviews. I’ve never really bothered asking for them before, but I’d really like to see “Laura” and the other self-published books do really well. So if you’ve read a book and you like it, and you’re in the mood, a review on Amazon would be much appreciated! Do you read self-published books? Do you enjoy them?

I’m glad I don’t have to go completely indie, as some of my brave friends have done. Making the decisions on a number of selected titles is really exciting, and it gives me a chance to spread my wings and try something a bit different, but I’m not sure I’d like to do it all the time.

Brutally Beautiful

Nick Taylor, poetry lecturer, used to be Mick O’Donnell, British gang leader. In search of a new life he’s come to New York, and five years later, he’s nearly there. Once he has his citizenship, he can start again. He’s kept clear of trouble, under the radar except for his visits to burlesque club Bared, and it’s there he meets his nemesis. Beautiful, classy, irresistible. Trouble.

Gen has a dead-end job checking citizenship applications but when her boss asks her to check Nick’s credentials she finds herself doing a lot more than that. The burlesque club is just the start. Nick is unlike any professor she’s ever met. They can’t keep their hands off each other, for one thing, even in the university library. Much less in the all-glass room in his apartment. With the rest of New York watching. Maybe. Nick teases her with the total exposure she secretly craves, while always keeping her safe.

But although Nick has left his past behind, he needs to draw on all his resources when Gen finds herself in deep unexpected and deadly trouble. He has to reach out to people he wanted to leave behind. It may end his attempt at a clean start, but if he doesn’t risk all he’s worked for, and perhaps expose himself to the deadly menace still hunting him down after five years, the woman he's grown to love and everything he wants to share with her will die.

eBook ISBN · 978-1-61118-960-5
Publisher ·Loose-Id Publishing
Genre · Contemporary Erotic Romance
Length · Novel

 http://www.loose-id.com/brutally-beautiful.html