Today's post is at Passionate Prose . Stop by and leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.
Natasha
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Be Careful What You Wish For...
...it just might come true.
We've all heard the old adage, but it hit home for me this week.
After years of writing and submitting and receiving rejections, I've sold to three publishers in the past year. Whoo Hoo! And then what happens, but I end up having my first three releases scheduled for October, November and December!! How cool is that?
Well, those of you who are more experienced writers probably know what happened next. I finished up my edits for my October release from Ellora's Cave , NOTHING TO FEAR, a couple weeks ago and have been happily working on my next story for eRedSage. But then at the beginning of this week I got edits for my November release from Samhain, THE RIDE OF HER LIFE. And so while I'm in the middle of those, what do I find in my inbox a couple days ago? You guessed it. My edits for my December release for Ellora's Cave's Seasons of Seduction IV, TASTE OF HONEY! Yikes!
So while I'm working like crazy at my computer, I keep reminding myself: I wanted this!
Forgive me if I'm not around much the next week or so...
Natasha
We've all heard the old adage, but it hit home for me this week.
After years of writing and submitting and receiving rejections, I've sold to three publishers in the past year. Whoo Hoo! And then what happens, but I end up having my first three releases scheduled for October, November and December!! How cool is that?
Well, those of you who are more experienced writers probably know what happened next. I finished up my edits for my October release from Ellora's Cave , NOTHING TO FEAR, a couple weeks ago and have been happily working on my next story for eRedSage. But then at the beginning of this week I got edits for my November release from Samhain, THE RIDE OF HER LIFE. And so while I'm in the middle of those, what do I find in my inbox a couple days ago? You guessed it. My edits for my December release for Ellora's Cave's Seasons of Seduction IV, TASTE OF HONEY! Yikes!
So while I'm working like crazy at my computer, I keep reminding myself: I wanted this!
Forgive me if I'm not around much the next week or so...
Natasha
Monday, August 20, 2007
Remember the Joy!
Another Monday Morning Inspiration.
I have a lot of notes tacked up on a bulletin board in front of my desk. Some of them, I admit, I've been bad about marking down where I first saw the inspirational words. One them is the note that says "Remember the Joy!" I dont' remember where I first saw it - but I often latch onto it on days when I'm struggling.
Sometimes we can get so bogged down with the day to day. So worried about the right way to do something, whether it's writing a love scene or plotting a big story or, some days, simply sitting down in front of the computer.
Remember what brought you to writing in the first place. For me, it's the joy of working with the words. Of seeing characters come alive that had previously been only ideas in my head. Of discovering a bigger, better story than the one I imagined as the words emerge from my fingertips. When I remember those things, then I can't wait to sit down at the keyboard. I can't wait to see what I'm going to write today. And the work doesn't seem so much like work.
Have a great week. Remember the joy!
Natasha
I have a lot of notes tacked up on a bulletin board in front of my desk. Some of them, I admit, I've been bad about marking down where I first saw the inspirational words. One them is the note that says "Remember the Joy!" I dont' remember where I first saw it - but I often latch onto it on days when I'm struggling.
Sometimes we can get so bogged down with the day to day. So worried about the right way to do something, whether it's writing a love scene or plotting a big story or, some days, simply sitting down in front of the computer.
Remember what brought you to writing in the first place. For me, it's the joy of working with the words. Of seeing characters come alive that had previously been only ideas in my head. Of discovering a bigger, better story than the one I imagined as the words emerge from my fingertips. When I remember those things, then I can't wait to sit down at the keyboard. I can't wait to see what I'm going to write today. And the work doesn't seem so much like work.
Have a great week. Remember the joy!
Natasha
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Two Releases by Portia Da Costa
SUITE SEVENTEEN - Portia Da Costa
Acting purely on instinct, I coil my arms around him. I can't believe this is happening and I can't believe what I'm doing. This new, different, impatient me takes the initiative and presses her tongue against his lips, demanding entrance.
He laughs, the sound deep and rough in his chest, and he admits me. Then a second later, it's like he throws a switch and he takes total control.
When vibrant, forty-something widow Annie Conroy espies her new neighbours Maria Lewis and Robert Stone having kinky sex in their back garden, she decides it’s time that she too woke up and smelt the erotic roses. And where better to begin her daring adventures than the luxurious Waverley Grange Country Hotel, and its hidden den of iniquity, the chintz-clad but wickedly pervy Suite Seventeen?
Under the stern but playful eye of exotic master Valentino, Annie quickly discovers the shocking hidden depths of her own sensuality, and surrenders herself body and soul to his outrageous games of power. But when the Waverley’s entire future hangs in the balance, and Annie has the means to help save it, dare she gamble on going one step further… and giving her heart to the mysterious man who’s come to control her?
"...this deliciously seductive story... is hard to put down" ~ Romantic Times, Four and a Half Stars, Sept 07
'Suite Seventeen contains all Portia's trademark treats from the arousing narrative, a wicked blend of deviant episodes, and an undercurrent of pragmatic and poignant romance.' ~ Ashley Lister, Erotica Readers and Writers Association
'I am grinning from ear to ear having savoured every last dripping word...' ~ Ann, poet and blogger
'a cheeky and very lovely read' ~ Madelynne Ellis, bestselling author of A Gentleman's Wager
ISBN 0352341092
Published by Black Lace in June 2007 [UK] and August 2007 [US]
Read an excerpt at PortiaDaCosta.com [NB. excerpt is NC17 and suitable for adults only.]
Suite Seventeen is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
WILD IN THE COUNTRY - Portia Da CostaPublished by TOTAL-E-BOUND - a contemporary super length novel Available from 6th August 2007
Blurb
There's something in the air...
Flora Swain is a newcomer to the village of Marwick Magna, renowned for the inspiration it provides to painters and poets. Impetuous and strong-minded, Flora is no artist – yet. But there are creative urges within her, she is convinced, and she has come to the country to give them life.
The strange thing is that Flora’s urges turn out to be almost entirely sensual. Is it the undoubted physical allure of her new neighbour, Declan McKenna, that’s driving her wild? Or the explicitly sexual messages which appear daily in her post? Or could it be that country life has revealed to her an insatiable, highly erotic new self?
Available now from TOTAL-E-BOUNDFriday, August 17, 2007
Life Gets in the Way
So I took the day off from the ddj, hoping to enjoy the summer day and get some writing done. Then last night DH was up most of the night with a bad cough and trouble breathing. Scary stuff. So, of course, I was up most of the night too. He had pneumonia back in February and when I took him to the Dr. today, he said it looks like a relapse. So he's back on antibiotics and the Dr. recommended a pneumonia vaccine.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad I was home so I could go to the Dr. with him. Hubby felt so bad that he interfered with my plans...like it was his fault he couldn't take in a deep breath and thought he was going to die.
I did get some writing done eventually. Quite a lot actually. I just wanted to explain why I didn't post here until 9:30 in the evening. But I did get it in! I'm still in the challenge!
I'm going to bed.
Natasha
Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad I was home so I could go to the Dr. with him. Hubby felt so bad that he interfered with my plans...like it was his fault he couldn't take in a deep breath and thought he was going to die.
I did get some writing done eventually. Quite a lot actually. I just wanted to explain why I didn't post here until 9:30 in the evening. But I did get it in! I'm still in the challenge!
I'm going to bed.
Natasha
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Is it Just Me?
I often go to one of the local restaurants on my lunch break from the ddj. I like to get out of the place for a while and find a quiet place to write. Yesterday I was at my usual table, tucked back in a corner, papers spread out on the table, editing with my black gel roller pen. There were empty tables stretched out along the whole wall.
So these two guys come in (not even cute guys that I could use for inspiration!) carrying trays full of food and where do they decide to sit????? With a room full of empty tables? They sit down at the table next to mine and start talking loudly about roast beef and football and lumber! Aargh! Couldn't they see I was working?
Now, I don't need total quiet to write. I live with two guys who love to have the TV going or music playing - sometimes both at the same time, and I've learned to tune it out. But am I the only person who will pick an empty table away from other people if I have a choice? Or am I just totally antisocial?
Natasha
So these two guys come in (not even cute guys that I could use for inspiration!) carrying trays full of food and where do they decide to sit????? With a room full of empty tables? They sit down at the table next to mine and start talking loudly about roast beef and football and lumber! Aargh! Couldn't they see I was working?
Now, I don't need total quiet to write. I live with two guys who love to have the TV going or music playing - sometimes both at the same time, and I've learned to tune it out. But am I the only person who will pick an empty table away from other people if I have a choice? Or am I just totally antisocial?
Natasha
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
When is a House a Home?
We recently moved from an apartment to a house. I hate moving, but I love my new house, with its richly painted walls and tiny view of the lake through the trees (okay, so I wish it was an enormous view of the lake!) And I have my own office with that lake view. The boxes are unpacked for the most part (the ones up in the attic may be there for a while.) A few days ago I thought, this place feels like home.
But what is it that makes a house a home? Your home? I know, you're going to say the people in it, but I'm talking about the house itself. As we were going through this move, I figured it out, at least for me. It's the pictures - the paintings and photographs that hang on the walls.
When we got ready to move from the apartment, one night we decided to take all the pictures off the walls and pack them. After all, they're not like clothes or dishes we were going to use over the next few days. And after we were done, I looked around at the blank walls and the place didn't look like home anymore. It was a sterile, impersonal place.
We've rearranged the pictures a few times (along with the furniture) and our house now looks and feels like home. Our home.
What makes a house a home to you?
Natasha
But what is it that makes a house a home? Your home? I know, you're going to say the people in it, but I'm talking about the house itself. As we were going through this move, I figured it out, at least for me. It's the pictures - the paintings and photographs that hang on the walls.
When we got ready to move from the apartment, one night we decided to take all the pictures off the walls and pack them. After all, they're not like clothes or dishes we were going to use over the next few days. And after we were done, I looked around at the blank walls and the place didn't look like home anymore. It was a sterile, impersonal place.
We've rearranged the pictures a few times (along with the furniture) and our house now looks and feels like home. Our home.
What makes a house a home to you?
Natasha
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Release Date!
My editor at Ellora's Cave e-mailed me yesterday. Nothing to Fear will be released on Oct 26! That's only a little over 2 months away! Squee! It will be part of their Halloween Quickie series "Trick or Treat". Here's a blurb to tempt you:
Mason Blake's dark good looks and domineering personality give Kelly Long all sorts of forbidden fantasies that frighten her. When she agrees to help out at the community Halloween haunted house, she never expects to be tied to a bed, playing damsel in distress to Mason’s masked, whip-wielding villain.
Kelly can’t run away from Mason this time. He knows she’s fighting her sexual needs and he hopes that a few hours of playing out her fantasies with him will prove to her that bondage - and Mason - are nothing to fear.
Mason Blake's dark good looks and domineering personality give Kelly Long all sorts of forbidden fantasies that frighten her. When she agrees to help out at the community Halloween haunted house, she never expects to be tied to a bed, playing damsel in distress to Mason’s masked, whip-wielding villain.
Kelly can’t run away from Mason this time. He knows she’s fighting her sexual needs and he hopes that a few hours of playing out her fantasies with him will prove to her that bondage - and Mason - are nothing to fear.
So mark it on your calendar. Oct 26, 2007. Nothing to Fear. Ellora's Cave.
Natasha
Monday, August 13, 2007
Monday Morning Inspiration
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals."
Unknown
Think about it. If we knew how many obstacles there were to selling a book...or whatever your goal is....how many of us might quit before we ever gave it a chance? Goal setting is such an important part of reaching for our dreams. Set small goals: So many pages a day. Write one kick-ass query letter. Take an hour and research agents. Whatever you can do today to get closer to reaching your goal.
Don't think about the thousands of other writers trying to get published. Don't think about the small percentage of manuscripts that get accepted. Keep at it. The longer you write, the better you'll become. The more you'll learn. Keep your eye on the goal. And for heaven's sake, make sure you enjoy the journey, or what's the point?
And then when you reach that goal - make a new one. :)
Natasha
P.S. I'm participating in the Great Blogger Challenge with several other Romance Divas so check back often!
Unknown
Think about it. If we knew how many obstacles there were to selling a book...or whatever your goal is....how many of us might quit before we ever gave it a chance? Goal setting is such an important part of reaching for our dreams. Set small goals: So many pages a day. Write one kick-ass query letter. Take an hour and research agents. Whatever you can do today to get closer to reaching your goal.
Don't think about the thousands of other writers trying to get published. Don't think about the small percentage of manuscripts that get accepted. Keep at it. The longer you write, the better you'll become. The more you'll learn. Keep your eye on the goal. And for heaven's sake, make sure you enjoy the journey, or what's the point?
And then when you reach that goal - make a new one. :)
Natasha
P.S. I'm participating in the Great Blogger Challenge with several other Romance Divas so check back often!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Where...When...Why...
Today's post is as Passionate Prose.
Stop by and tell us where and when you like your romances.
Natasha
Stop by and tell us where and when you like your romances.
Natasha
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
eRed Sage is Live!
Check it out at www.eRedSage.com
Right now previous Secrets Anthologies are available for download. Starting in October, new sexy stories will be available as well.
Check back here or at my website for when my paranormal erotic romance, Quinn's Curse, will be released. I'll let you all know as soon as I do!
For now, check out the great erotic romances in the Secrets volumes.
Natasha
Right now previous Secrets Anthologies are available for download. Starting in October, new sexy stories will be available as well.
Check back here or at my website for when my paranormal erotic romance, Quinn's Curse, will be released. I'll let you all know as soon as I do!
For now, check out the great erotic romances in the Secrets volumes.
Natasha
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