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!

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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.

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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!)

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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.

Next week, I will be attending the RT Booklovers Convention in Chicago.  If you’re attending the event (or coming for one of the signings), I’d love to see you!

I’ll be presenting the following workshop at the convention:

Thursday, April 12th, 11:15-12:15:  HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO

Description: What’s a good love story without an unforgettable hero? Four bestselling authors discuss ways to craft a strong and memorable hero. It’s not just about the sex appeal — find out what characteristics make a hero great as you learn why readers truly fall in love with heroes. Discussion will also include the creation of antiheroes (Why do readers enjoy those bad boys?) and the comparison/contrast of heroes across subgenres.

Panelists: Cynthia Eden, Lisa Renee Jones, Elisabeth Naughton, Caridad Piñeiro

Right after my panel on Thursday, I’ll be heading over to the KENSINGTON BOOKS AND ALL THAT JAZZ SOCIAL.  This social is for convention attendees, and it is scheduled to begin at 12:20 (and end at 1:20). It’s a great time to chat with Kensington authors and to get some pretty sweet prizes.

I will also be participating in 2 booksigning events while at the convention:

E-BOOK EXPO AND GRAPHIC NOVEL FAIR (Thursday, April 12th, from 4 to 6 PM)

GIANT BOOK FAIR (Saturday April 14th, from 11 AM to 2 PM)

While I’m at the convention, I’ll have plenty of ANGEL BETRAYED buttons. So if you see me, and you want one, please just tell me. 😉 I’ll have them with me at the signings, at my workshop, and even with me when I’m just wandering around.

Thanks!! Enjoy your weekend!

I’m helping Simply Ali celebrate her birthday bash—and giving away an ARC of ANGEL BETRAYED. If you get a chance, come on over!

And, speaking of celebrating…Elisabeth Naughton is celebrating the release of her new book, ENRAPTURED, with an all-day release party at her blog. She’s got tons of prizes to give away (she’s posting all day with prizes), and one of those prizes is an ANGEL BETRAYED ARC. (So there are two chances for you to win today!)

Good luck! Have a great Tuesday.