Update: The winner of the giveaway is Kerrie Strong. Congrats, Kerrie!
Happy Sunday!! I hope that you are having a great weekend. Today, guest author Jacquie Johnson is here to talk about one of my favorite things…romantic suspense. Ah, the thrills! The chills! The reading fun. 😉 Jacquie, thanks so much for coming by!

Why I Love Romantic Suspense

I cut my “reading” teeth on Nancy Drew, the Dana Girls, Trixie Belden and a host of others.  Even as a child I enjoyed the hint of romance between Ned and Nancy and wished for more.  I did the same thing with Trixie and couldn’t understand why the author played down the budding relationship between Trixie and Jim Frayne.  Everyone could see the chemistry between them.  Well, at least I could.  So even at eight, I liked my mystery with a side of romance.

As I grew up, my tastes matured.  I switched from Nancy Drew to Tom Clancy, but even Clancy offered me a bit of romance with Jack Ryan, a man I could certainly fall for.  No, my husband’s not military, CIA or anything like that.  He’s a finance guy but he does have a black belt in karate.  That counts, right?

By my mid-twenties, I had branched into a sexier form of mystery and fell in love.  Authors like Jayne Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, and Julie Garwood created worlds that I wanted to dive into and never leave.  Anyone else suffer from unrequited love for a fictional character?  I know I do.

Take a good mystery with a strong love story, add a glass of wine and there’s nothing better on a cold night – or a hot one for that matter.

Want to win a Kindle copy of ANGEL ON FIRE? Then tell Jacquie why you enjoy romantic suspense novels (or feel free to ask her any question that you’d like!).  The winner will be announced on 5/1/12. Good luck!

 Blurb:

All Angela wants is to understand why her father, security specialist Mac McKenzie, dropped dead on a sidewalk in Boston. Instead, she is thrust into the midst of an international conspiracy when she discovers that her father was working on a classified project at the time of his death. Now, the FBI, a terrorist and a killer have her in their sights.

Former Navy SEAL turned undercover operative, Chase Romero thinks his boss is overreacting when he orders Chase to small town America to protect Angela. But he changes his mind when her home is burglarized and “accidents” begin to happen. The real question becomes, how can he keep her safe if he keeps tripping over his own heart?

After shooting an intruder, Angela flees the scene, and the FBI issues a warrant for her arrest. On the run for her life and her freedom, she places her trust in Chase. As they travel from New England, to the nation’s capital, to the shores of Lake Michigan, the trail – and their attraction – grow hotter. Together, they team up to prevent a global financial market meltdown and face a killer who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the project Mac protected with his life.

Buy Link for Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Fire-Investigations-ebook/dp/B0079O9W22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333983584&sr=8-1

Okay, so sorry for the delay in posting this! I meant to have my 2nd Recap section up on Saturday. ;(

At RT, there were a couple of big buzz words that everyone seemed to be using. The one I heard the most? Discoverability.  In the world of shrinking bookshelves (okay, shrinking physical bookshelves–our digital ones sure seem to be growing), it is harder and harder for books to be discovered by readers.  When you go to Amazon, how do you discover new authors? How do you discover new books?  Since so many authors are dipping their toes into the self-publishing arena, discoverability is of huge importance. Proper key words and tagging (the tagging is on Amazon) can help to promote discoverability. Facebook ads and Google ads were also mentioned as being 2 ways to increase the discoverability of a book. (Social media promotion was pushed by all for discoverability.)

There were LOTS of self-publishing workshops.  The last time I attended RT (at least 2, maybe 3 years ago?), I don’t remember any self-publishing workshops. (Now, I’m not saying they weren’t there–maybe they were, but this year…Wow. Talk about an explosion.) It truly did seem like everyone was discussing self-publishing or “going indie”.

I’ve been self-publishing my Bound books, so I can certainly understand the appeal. You can experiment with your stories, you can get them delivered to readers faster, you can control price points, covers, you can get monthly paychecks–all great points.

But…I am also still happily writing for NY. I adore my editors. I love writing books for them. I love the support and the distribution that I can get for my print books. (And, yes, there are plenty of people who still want those print books.)

So, before the conference, I considered myself a writer who had a foot in both worlds–self-publishing and traditional publishing. I just didn’t realize there was an actual term for me, not until I attended one of Bob Mayer‘s workshops.  It turns out that I’m a “hybrid author”–and, yes, the name means what you think it does. I don’t just write traditionally. I’m not just indie. I’m both. To me, this is the best of both worlds. I can reach those readers who only want to read print books. I can reach the readers who want my self-pubbed stories and who want those stories delivered quickly on their e-readers.  Being a hybrid lets me reach a maximum amount of readers, and heck, for writers, isn’t that what this business is all about? Reaching readers?

Because that was sure what RT was about.  There were so many readers there. Excitement and laughter filled the air as people talked about books.  It was fabulous to see the connections that people made at the event. Great to feel that wonderful energy in the air.

Ah…a love of books–and whether those books are physical or digital–it’s all the same. They’re stories that make people happy. And don’t we all deserve our happy endings?

***

And, now, ahem, …I’m totally going to do a promo. Here’s the cover for my next self-pubbed book, BOUND BY THE NIGHT–this one will be out on 4/30:

(Hey, I was talking self-published books, so this is totally related…)

For the last fifteen years, vampire queen Iona has been dead to the world.  Trapped under the power of a brutal curse, she has been helpless.  A prisoner, locked within her own still body. Then alpha werewolf Jamie O’Connell fights his way to her side.  After defeating the guards that surround her, Jamie gives Iona his blood…and she rises.

The world has changed a great deal in the last fifteen years, and Iona has changed, too. Once known as the Blood Queen because of her dark reputation, she now finds herself longing for the blood of only one man…only he isn’t just a man. She wants the blood of her werewolf—Jamie’s blood.  But Iona doesn’t realize that Jamie has been keeping secrets from her. Very dark, dangerous secrets.  And Iona may have traded one curse for another.

Now that he has Iona, Jamie vows to never let her go. He needs his Blood Queen in order to defeat his enemy, he needs her to make his own beast stronger, and…he just needs her.  Jamie has risked his life to claim Iona, and he won’t let anything break their bond. Not time. Not spells. Not even a wild and reckless vampire queen…

***

You can find an excerpt from BOUND BY THE NIGHT here.

If you want to share your thoughts about discoverability or hybrid authors, please do! Have a great day.

Update: The winner of DARKEST CARESS is…Cindy Overton. Congrats!

Have I mentioned how much I love it when guest authors come to visit? And I so hope that you enjoy reading their posts, too! I figure you have to get tired of just hearing from me, so why not spice things up by getting some fresh blood?  And today, our “fresh blood” guest is author Kaylea Cross. (And she’s offering a giveaway!)  Kaylea, thanks so much for coming over today! Congrats on your new release!

***

Meet the Empowered

Thanks so much to Cynthia for having me here today to talk about Darkest Caress, my very first paranormal romance.

If you recognize my name at all, it’s likely because of my military romantic suspense books. So why the heck would I ever write a paranormal? To tell the truth, I’d never thought about it seriously until I took a trip to the Baltic States and wound up in coastal Lithuania in a place that fired my imagination.

I’d always known that if I ever did try my hand at paranormal romance, for damn sure it wouldn’t be about vamps or shifters, since other authors have already cornered that market. (*cough* Cynthia Eden and Katie Reus *cough*). Nope. If I was ever going to write a paranormal story, I had better come up with something totally different.

So somehow there I was in coastal Lithuania, standing on the tallest sand dunes in Europe overlooking the gorgeous summer resort town of Nida on one side and the wild Baltic Sea on the other. I’ll admit I was pretty damn inspired by the setting. But later that afternoon when I toured the Hill of Witches with its wooden sculptures depicting Lithuanian legends and folklore…that’s when the magic happened.

I knew right then and there that I would write about a magical race linked to the Lithuanian sea goddess, Neringa. And I was definitely making use of the good versus evil spoken of in every legend. My villain was going to be spectacularly evil. And hell yeah, I was so going to figure out a way to make Baltic amber important in the story too.

While this story is different from anything else I’ve ever written and all my Empowered characters have both Baltic and Celtic ancestry, there’s one thing I just couldn’t give up from my old ways. Every single hero of the series has a badass military background.

I can’t help it. Military heroes make me weak in the knees.

My Empowered heroes are alpha males that are loyal, and lethal when they need to be, but they’re also ultra protective and capable of incredible tenderness with their mates. I hope I did them all justice in Darkest Caress.

What are the character traits you love the most in your favorite heroes? Leave a comment and I’ll enter you in a contest to win a digital copy of Darkest Caress.

Blurb: Two-hundred-year-old Daegan Blackwell is one of the last remaining Empowered, an ancient magical race. Daegan’s duty is to lead and protect his remaining Brethren in the coming war foretold by prophecy. The last thing he expects is to meet the one woman who will either save or destroy him-his destined mate.

Fiercely independent Realtor Olivia Farrell believes darkly handsome Daegan is simply a prospective client. Until she’s attacked by a man with a strange aura-and Daegan fights him off, taking away her pain with just his touch. At first, Olivia refuses to believe she’s part of a magical race, yet mounting evidence and her powerful chemistry with Daegan are too strong to deny.

But as Daegan’s partner, Olivia becomes a target in the battle between good and evil that threatens her life, as well as the very existence of the Empowered. And the only one who can save her is the man claiming to be her destiny…

Happy reading!

Kaylea Cross

Kaylea Cross is an award winning author of edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense. A Registered Massage Therapist, Kaylea is an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dancer and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband.

You can find Kaylea through her website, Twitter, Facebook, and her blog.

(And, psst…by the way, my apologies for the delay in posting the 2nd part of my RT Recap–that post will be up on 4/23! Have  a great day!)

It is time for my (very tardy) RT Booklovers’ Recap. 😉 (Sorry for the delay, I’ve been in edit-land!)

First, I just want to say what a pleasure it was to meet so many wonderful people. I had an amazing time with all of the readers, librarians, booksellers, and writers in Chicago.  The book love was running high.  It was great to be surrounded by people who love romance novels just as much as I do.  Thank you to everyone that I met! You made the event so enjoyable.

Some folks have asked me to recap my workshop/spotlight experiences, so here goes…

KENSINGTON SPOTLIGHT

I loved the Kensington spotlight (and not just b/c they are one of my publishers! Even if they weren’t my publisher, this spotlight still rocked). For their spotlight, Kensington demystified the book buying process–and when I say book buying, I’m talking about how their fantastic sales staff actually gets the books inside of the bookstores.  Some points that I learned in this spotlight:

-When a Kensington sales rep approaches the bookstores, she can often pitch/sell a 4 month period of book releases in a matter of hours.

-The rep uses the cover image to help sell books, she gives a strong pitch, and she includes the previous sales history (if any) of the author.

-The rep can ask for stronger distribution in stores that sell a particular sub-genre very well.  Shelf placement can also be asked for at this time (but that space is very sought after, so there’s no guarantee when it comes to the placement).

Then the question came up…What can authors do to help promote their book sales?

The answer…get your book in on time. The sales reps are working MONTHS in advance when they contact the stores. They are selling your book for a particular slot, so you have to get your book in on time. If you don’t, then the entire timeline will be thrown off.

The lovely folks at Kensington also pushed the importance of social media.  We all know how popular Twitter and Facebook are these days, so authors should be using these tools to both interact with their fans and to reach new readers.  An author’s digital presence is very important–that presence can lead to increased sales for an author as her/his audience base expands.

Like I said, I really enjoyed this workshop. It was different–I loved the inside look at the world of the very savvy Kensington sales rep. 😉 And, okay, maybe I am a *little* biased…

SAMHAIN SPOTLIGHT

I had another fun time at the Samhain spotlight. At Samhain, the following genre areas sell the best:

Contemporary (both erotic and non-erotic)

Paranormal Romance

Gay Romance

Contemporary Western Romance

At their spotlight, someone asked if they were gearing up for any big trends. The answer for Samhain?  Trends aren’t as important any longer.  They are dealing with books in the “now” because digital publishing moves so fast.  They feel like there will always be paranormal readers, always be historical readers, etc., and digital publishing allows those readers to easily find the books that they want.

HARLEQUIN SPOTLIGHT

(Yes, full disclosure–this is another one of my publishers.)

The Harlequin editorial team began by revealing some fun figures:

70% of North American women recognize the Harlequin brand.

Harlequin publishes in 150 International markets and their work is translated in 32 languages.

Harlequin sells 4.1 books every second. (In the length of time that it has taken you to read this post, how many books do you think Harlequin has sold?)

Some more info that I learned:

Harlequin is definitely on the look-out for new writers. They want fresh voices. One line that was specifically mentioned as actively looking to acquire–Love Inspired Historicals.

The Harlequin Super Romance line is increasing its word count to 85k.

If you want to write for one of the category lines, then the editorial staff suggested that you reads books in those different lines to see which ones you enjoyed the most. The line that resonates with you will probably be the line that you would enjoy writing.

As for their single titles…generally they have a word count around 100k.  They focus on commercial reads.  They want unpredictable stories from fresh voices.

***

And…that’s  a lot of information. So I think I’ll break my recap into two parts. I’ll be back with that second part tomorrow. 😉 In that recap, I’ll talk about “discoverability”–a big catch phrase from RT. I’ll also talk about hybrid authors (no, they aren’t like my hybrid shifters or hybrid demons, well, not really….) and self-publishing.

Update:  Time to announce the winners!! First up, the swag winners… Michelle M & Florence!  Congrats, ladies! And the winner of the Kindle digital copy is…Rachel.  Congrats!

While attending the Silken Sands Writers’ Conference, I had the pleasure of meeting author Mina Khan in person. Mina and I had chatted online frequently, but that visit was our first in-person meet.  😉  I was excited to learn about the release of Mina’s new book–a sexy paranormal romance called A TALE OF TWO DJINNS.  Not only does the book promise to be awesome, but Mina is donating 50% of the proceeds from the sales of this novella to UNICEF.  Come on, that’s just win-win! So, of course, I had to get her to come by the blog and talk a bit about her release.  Welcome, Mina!

(And…psst…there are prizes below! Contest, ahoy!)

***

Thank you so much for inviting me over Cynthia. I’m thrilled to share some of the inspiration that went into my new paranormal romance novella, A TALE OF TWO DJINNS.

My hero Akshay (Shay for short), prince of the earth djinns and a battle axe of a warrior, was inspired by Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar.

He’s so earthy & HAWT…and pairs so well with water J So of course, I had to match him with Maya, the princess of the water djinns, daughter of his enemy. My inspiration for Maya…

(yes, Angelina Jolie)

Here’s what Maya thinks about Shay:

Shay was dangerous. Not dangerous like a soldier armed to the teeth. That she could handle. Dangerous like a man who could seduce a woman with his warm sunshine scent and mischief-filled grin, rock hard abs and love for fairytales. She pulled in a deep, shuddering breath and let it out. Then she placed her hand in his. Warmth sparked at their touch and rolled through her essence as she climbed aboard the carpet. (yes, there is a flying carpet in the story!)

And here’s what Shay has to say about Maya:

“You have beautiful hair.”

“It’s straight and boring.”

The combing stopped. No, please don’t stop. Don’t stop.

“You really don’t see yourself, do you?”

Shagaard had mirrors, and she glanced in them at passing. “What do you see?”

“A beautiful woman.” Akshay wound her hair around one hand, pulled it to the side. He kissed her exposed nape. A soft sigh escaped her. “A woman with silky soft hair that shimmers blue black.”

Another kiss, this time on the side of her neck. Then he let her hair slide free of his grasp. “It’s like running my fingers through night in all her glory.”

 ***

What inspired me to bring Shay & Maya together, pit earth djinns against water djinns? Nature.

A TALE OF TWO DJINNS is a sexy paranormal Romeo & Juliet story with genies, feminists, kickass action & adult fun. A special note: 50% of the proceeds from the sale of A TALE OF TWO DJINNS are being donated to UNICEF. If you’re interested in knowing why, please check out my Karma post.

Amazon            B&N    Smashwords

So who are what inspires you? Two lucky commenters will be picked at random to receive fun swag: A signed post card featuring the cover of A Tale of Two Djinns, a shiny genie-lamp key chain & a packet of wildflower seeds. Leave a comment today with your e-mail please!

(And a quick note from Cynthia–I’ll send one commenter a Kindle copy of A TALE OF TWO DJINNS! Random winner.)

Best wishes,

Mina

Author Bio:

Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She daydreams of hunky paranormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as stories. Between stories, she teaches culinary classes and writes for her local newspaper. Other than that, she’s raising a family of two children, two cats, two dogs and a husband.

She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns, ghosts and monsters. These childhood fancies now color her fiction. Her debut novella, THE DJINN’S DILEMMA was published November 2011. A second novella, A TALE OF TWO DJINNS, came out March 2012.