Publishers Holding Their Finger in the Dike of Digital Publishing

Passive Guy as always astute in his observations.

See here.

Jessie Clever

Bio:

In the second grade, Jessie began a story about a duck and a lost ring. Two harrowing pages of wide ruled notebook paper later, the ring was found. And Jessie has been writing ever since.

Armed with the firm belief that women in the Regency era could be truly awesome heroines, Jessie began telling their stories in her Spy Series, a thrilling ride in historical espionage that showcases human faults and triumphs and most importantly, love.

Jessie makes her home in the great state of New Hampshire where she lives with her husband and a very opinionated Basset Hound. For more, visit jessieclever.com.

Blurb:

Katharine Cavanaugh, the Countess of Stirling, has always lived according to the expectations of her heritage. American mercenary Matthew Thatcher has spent his life running away from every expectation he has for himself. But when their latest mission from the British War Office goes wrong, trapping them behind enemy lines, they must decide if they dare to realize the greatest expectation of all: the expectation of love.

Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/Nz0Wck
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1cqSx13
All Romance eBooks: http://bit.ly/N6EWpu
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1eoKJkA

Excerpt:

Spies Kate Cavanaugh and Matthew Thatcher have just escaped a prison in Naples and are looking for a way out of the city and away from their pursuers.

Naples, Italy

April 1815

Kate pressed against his back, her heart beating a tattoo into the muscles there. He felt a corresponding ripple in other parts of his body and swallowed to focus on the task at hand. They needed to get away from the prison and the authorities that had brought them there. They needed to find a place to hide until they could regain their composure and perhaps find some suitable clothes for Kate, even if she did make a fetching bar wench.

“Get in the cart.”

Thatcher looked quickly to his right at the cart that had just passed them as if the voice had come from the olives themselves. But knowing that could not be right, he looked up to the bench. A small, squat man, thick through the middle and thin at the limbs hovered like a forgotten presence on the worn bench of the rickety cart. Surely, it was him who had spoken the words, for in the bustle around them, no other person was close enough to utter such words with such clarity for Thatcher to hear.

And the man had spoken in English.

Thatcher turned long enough to scoop Kate into his arms, and together, he launched them into the back of the cart, landing precariously between the rows of olive crates. The cart lurched forward before his body settled onto the boards of the cart, and Kate’s unbelievable warmth came to rest against the full length of his body. He let out a rush of air that had nothing to do with escape and possible pursuit. It was a rush of pure male lust that exited his lungs and with it, his last hope of keeping his hands off of the woman who now lay sprawled across his body.

She struggled against him, likely trying to gain purchase and find a space for herself where there was none in the cart. Thatcher stilled her with his hands a little too far down on her hips, the tattered skirts of her costume having ridden up to her knees, trapping her legs between his. Her head came up, and he stared into hazel eyes, murky with a mystery he could not wait to solve.

“Better relax, my friend. I think we’re going for a ride,” he said, letting his hands slip just a little more down her hips.

And that was when he saw it. The flash of responding desire in those hazel depths that brought a corresponding flicker from his own awareness.

She wanted him.

She may not know that she wanted him, but there, pressed against each other between crates of olives in a cart that was likely to collapse before safely rescuing them away from their captors, driven by a man they did not know and could possibly have nefarious connections, Matthew Thatcher knew that a lusty bar wench wanted him. And not just any lusty bar wench.

Katharine Cavanaugh, the Countess of Stirling.

And for the first time in days, he smiled.

Idiotic or highbrow?

My white trash roots may be showing, but I'm always fascinated by someone who is just so full of themselves and elitist. This is a blog post about just such a person.

Read here.

Blog Etiquette

Here's all you need to know about appearing on this blog.

Just ask. All I need to know is that you wrote a book. I'll even feature erotic romance. As long as the excerpt is G rated.

What else can you do? Ask nicely and ask me when I have an opening. Or ask me if I have an opening in the time frame you need. I may. I may not. I'll try to accommodate you.

Get me your blog post on time. That means at least a week prior to the date I give you. I'm very firm on this, though if some life catastrophe happens and you let me know beforehand that you'll be late, that's okay. Life happens. I get it.

Get me all the material I've asked for. I will not chase you down.

What shouldn't you do? Send me a blog post if we've never discussed a date. I may not remember that I've offered you the spot. If I have an e-mail trail (which I keep) then I know what we discussed.

What else shouldn't you do? Put me on your newsletter or e-mail list. I can't be on everyone's.

What is one more thing you can do? Offer to reciprocate. I would love to be on your blog and will happily follow your rules.

Thanks

Why Publisher Need to Think Like Amazon

Here's someone who thinks publishers should think like amazon. Read it here.

Then read Passive Guy's response to it here.

Always a good read from one of my author Rock Stars.

Author Rock Star Update

Here's what my author Rock Stars were up to last week.

From J.A. Konrath

Here's What I Know

Be self-aware.

Be deliberate.

Read the rest.

Bob Mayer had a guest blogger talking about reasons to write mystery

We welcome our newest author, Sibella Giorella, to the Cool Gus gang.

Read the rest

On The Passive Voice he once again has a great collection of blogs he has linked to. I couldn't choose just one.

Go here.

Have a good week.

Too Much Manure

Here's an interesting post about what traditional publishing cannot offer you.

These are the things people will tell you that you’re passing up if you don’t sign on the traditional line, and I’m calling it. It’s bullshit. Seriously stinky stuff, and a lot of people don’t know, so here’s my post.

Read more here.