A (Sort OF) Love Letter To The Editor Of A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS—Angela James

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS
Releases December 5th!

Dear Angela,

Well, we made it.  It’s almost release-day for your special project—the steampunk Christmas anthology you and the Carina Press staff entitled A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS! 

 

In case you haven’t already noticed, I’m new to the scene of publishing.  Pfft, who am I kidding?  I’m so new I squeak.  I’ve had two other releases before my novella with you—A CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET—but since they both happened in the last ninety days or so, I’m still learning the ropes. *cough*GinormousUnderstatement*cough*

 

Angela!

One of those ropes had to do with Twitter.  I’d been told by one of my editors at Samhain Publishing that I needed to be on Twitter to be a presence online, so I dutifully made up an account on March 1^st of this year.  On March 6^th, someone retweeted your call for submissions for a holiday Steampunk project, and I immediately had an idea for a story.  I didn’t know anything about you or Carina Press; I just liked the subject.  I didn’t have a long time to get things together, since the deadline was May 15th, but when the characters Cornelia Peabody and Roderick Coddington pushed their way to the fore, I knew the story was going to be all right.  And when I had 15K written in the first week, I REALLY knew it was going to be all right. 

When a story pushes its bossy way out like that, it’s always a fun ride.

 

I was done with CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET by the time May rolled around.  I even had time to send it off to a beta reader for that all-important feedback.  Twice I read the manuscript aloud, until I felt the character of Cornelia so keenly I actually perfected her faint Irish lilt, and I could see impassioned fire hidden beneath the professorial veneer in Roderick’s vengeful eyes.

But as the deadline inched closer, I weenied out.  I just couldn’t make myself send it to you.

 

Did you know I teach figure skating?  As part of that job I was also a gold-level judge in ISI.  I’ve sat on countless competition panels, doing the job I had spent a lifetime perfecting, so that in turn, the people I judged could be made better (you see where I’m going with this?).  The thing about judging a group of ten to fifteen skaters is basic mathematics—three will see the podium.  The others won’t.  And someone will know that terrible pain of coming in dead last.  I know this sounds cold, so please don’t misunderstand.  It wasn’t that I hated them, or that it was anything personal, and you can bet in my heart of hearts I wanted everyone to come out a winner.  But in every competition I have ever judged, there are those whose efforts don't deserve to see the podium.   That doesn't mean they'll never see it.  There’s always another day, as they say, and that’s something I find myself reminding my broken-hearted students when they (inevitably) produce a bad performance.  There’s always another competition down the road, another shot at the podium.  As long as you keep entering, keep trying, there is no failure.

My Dirty Birdies! I'm the dork
in the glasses. :)

Eventually I realized how stupid I was being by not hitting the Send button.  On May 13^th, my birthday, I gave myself the present of courage and sent off CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET.  I did it with the hope that it would podium, but full of understanding if it didn’t.  After all, as you have been trained to be on a judges’ panel of a different type, it’s your job and your duty to make sure the world you love—the publishing world—gets the best efforts from its creative engine, the writers.  And hey, let's face that really big, ugly fact that no one likes to talk about--no matter how awesome it feels to get that podium spot, I don’t know of any writer who would want a project out there that isn’t worthy of an acceptance, if only because one bad novel can sever a thousand reader relationships. 

So this ends my (sort of) love letter to not just you, Angela, but to all editors who sit in their own kind of judge's seat, filled with the hope of being dazzled, and the determination to say no when they're not.  We writers certainly don’t podium on every attempt, but you remind us—there’s always tomorrow.

Speaking of which… it’s tomorrow.  Happy release day, Angela. :)   Love, Stacy

CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET  is available at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/uU8dXX

Carina Press: http://bit.ly/udtEfX

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/sUOBOm

AReBooks: http://bit.ly/vjNOCb

ZERO FACTOR IS UP FOR BOOK OF THE WEEK! So, um... vote for me? Please?

A truly spectacular email was waiting in my inbox from Long and Short Reviews (LASR) this week--a 4.5-star review for ZERO FACTOR!   (To check out this review from Orchid at LASR, please click here)



This novella is part of a three-story anthology called CYBERSHOCK, published by the ever-amazing Samhain Publishing.  The novellas have been separately released in ebook format, and will be published in print in July, 2012 (I'm so looking forward to that!).


But what's really fabulous about this review is that I now have an opportunity to win the Book of the Week on LASR's website.  It's an honor just to be nominated, so I'm thrilled with this already.  But I'd really like to win, so I need your vote!  Just click here and vote for ZERO FACTOR, and I'll give you a cookie.  Or at least a picture of a cookie.  Or maybe a donut.  Your choice.


Thanks!

 

It's Review Round-Up!

Well, it's that time again.  It's Sunday night, the last weekend before the release of my too-spicy-to-be-sweet contemporary romance, BEST MAN, WORST MAN from Samhain Publishing, and I have another review to share on it!


From SensualReads:

Wedding coordinator Claire Pomeroy has seen it all, when planning events, and ready with a remedy for every problem until she meets Best Man Ryder Price who is trying to derail the groom into calling off the wedding she is working on. Not only does the man not believe in true love or marriage, the chemistry between them is off the charts. Claire tries to convince Ryder that there is more to marriage than just sex, while Ryder is trying to prove to her that you can have all of that without marriage and be just as happy.
Entertaining quick read, Ryder is a handful as he comes up with a few plans to knock Claire off her game, but Claire is equally determined to prove him wrong. You could easily imagine this story with the descriptive details Stacy Gail has brought to life in Best Man, Worst Man.


I'm so excited to share Ryder and Claire's bumpy road to romance with people who believe that opposite do attract -- and wow, do they ever attract here!  I'm so thankful my editor, Imogen Howson, plucked this story out of the slush pile and gave it a chance.  Immi, you were right to get rid of the opening "car crash and groping" scene! :D  (Fellow writers, please remember to ALWAYS trust your editors -- they really do know best.)


And in other news...

Remember how Harlequin Books put A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS up on NetGalley for early review?  Believe it or not, two reviews have already come in!  The first one shook my antho sister, JK Coi and me up in exactly the same way -- we couldn't look.  We had to wait until someone else read the review on Twitter to let us know we were "safe".

Thoughts Of A Scot was the first reviewer across the finish line, and this was what she had to say about my contribution to this steampunk anthology, CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET:

First thing's first, I loved the title of this story. Don't know why, but I did.
The story was interesting and the characters likeable. And, as for any Carina Press story, the sex scenes are always heat inducing!

Here's what she said about JK Coi's FAR FROM BROKEN:

Instant pity for Callie and love for Jasper. A slightly different take on other steampunks I've read in that the woman is the one given all the power.


And Jenny Schwartz's WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL:

Again, a good story with likeable characters. This time I loved the male lead first, he was sexy! Esme was strong hearted and independent, a must (I think) for any steampunk book.


And PG Forte's THIS WINTER HEART:

An enjoyable story with a very likeable female lead and a bastard-come-nice-guy of a male lead. I liked Ophelia from the get go and Dario was a meanie to start but soon realised how much he loved his wife.


Please look into what else she had to say about the stories from the amazing JK Coi, Jenny Schwartz, and PG Forte.  I'm crazy about my anthology sisters, and honored beyond words to be included amongst them.  They're extraordinary! <3


The second review comes from Paula at The Phantom Paragrapher, who gave us her equivalent of a 5-star review -- in this case, 5 P's!  For the full story, feel free to visit Paula's review here.  Thank you for reading, Paula!


So, the countdown continues for the releases of BEST MAN, WORST MAN this October 25th, and CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET on December 5th.  Let the excitement begin!

Take A Peek At BEST MAN, WORST MAN, Coming October 25th!

My Chocolate-Covered Cover! <3

It's getting to be that time again -- release day for BEST MAN, WORST MAN is almost here!


Oh, what to say about this fun little project...  BEST MAN, WORST MAN was the first project to be published, despite the fact that it is now my second release from Samhain.  (Confused yet?:) ) BEST MAN, WORST MAN was pushed back thanks to my publisher's release schedule of the cyberpunk anthology, of which my novella ZERO FACTOR was a part.

Is this too sexy to be sweet? Hmmm.

I wrote BEST MAN, WORST MAN for one of Samhain's anthology calls.  This particular call was for a contemporary "sweet" romance -- focusing on the falling-in-love magic of romance without actual sex scenes.  Since I grew up reading this type of romance, I thought this sounded like a great opportunity to get my foot in the door.  BEST MAN, WORST MAN took less than a month to write, almost like my brain had just been waiting for me to tell Ryder and Claire's story.  Eighteen days after sending it in, I received an email from Imogen Howson, the editor in charge of the sweet romance anthology call, and informed me that while my project wasn't being accepted for the anthology, they were interested in publishing it as a stand-alone book. YAY!  (Only much later I found out that despite my characters not having sex, my work was way too hot for it to be categorized as a "sweet" romance.  Apparently I don't know how to write those *is baffled but happy*)



So, without further ado, here's the blurb for BEST MAN, WORST MAN, the steamiest-but-no-sex-scenes novella around!

*     *     *

He’s the one problem she can’t solve.

From hysterical bridezillas to grooms with sub-zero feet, renowned wedding planner Claire Pomeroy has never met a disaster she couldn’t handle. Then she runs afoul of her client’s not-so-best man, a devilishly flirtatious rogue with a killer smile and a chest as solid as a concrete roadblock. Yet their sparks of attraction only highlight his obvious quest—to make sure this wedding knot never gets tied.

Confirmed bachelor Ryder Price knows one unshakable truth: marriage is nothing but a fairy tale. No way is he going to stand idly by while his wingman face-plants into the dreaded marital trap. But there’s a problem. A dark-eyed, dangerously curvaceous problem who’s bound and determined to pull this wedding off.

As her suddenly skittish clients teeter on the edge of cancellation, Claire challenges her nemesis to imagine long-term as something more than a quickie and a vague promise to call. Ryder counters with a challenge of his own. Let him give her a taste of just how fulfilling a little no-strings-attached passion can be.





And hey, since we're at it, why not a teeny excerpt of when Claire and Ryder meet? :)

EXCERPT:

Claire sighed and followed Rachel into the living room, only to have her vision filled with Rachel’s houseguest sitting on a sofa, coffee mug in hand as he chatted with Matt. He was impossible to miss. Even though he was seated it was obvious the man was built like a warrior of old, with wide shoulders and a chest you could play handball on, narrow hips and long legs that filled out his jeans in all the right places. His dark hair was as black as a raven’s wing, and the sweep of his shoulders was so breathtaking she couldn’t help but suffer the innately feminine desire to explore the muscular terrain with curious, wanting-to-squeeze fingers. The smile he gave Matt was a devilish white slash against bronzed, sun-kissed skin, made that much darker with a hint of a five-o’clock shadow. Then he looked up at their approach, and Claire found herself freezing solid, from the tips of her toes all the way to the orderly movement of her lungs.

He had silver eyes. God help her, silver eyes.

Wow.

“Ryder, I’d like you to meet wedding planner extraordinaire, Claire Pomeroy. Claire, this is Matt’s best friend, Ryder Price. Since he and Matt are settled in so nicely here, why don’t you and I have our consult in the kitchen while the boys do whatever it is they do?”

Matt shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

“Absolutely not.” To Claire’s surprise, the man named Ryder pushed to his feet and crossed to them, and for no fathomable reason Claire’s heart decided to do its best impersonation of an 808 drum machine. “Please Rachel, I insist you go about your usual routine and just pretend I’m not even here. Remember, you swore I wouldn’t be a bother, so don’t let me get in your way now.”

“My goodness,” Rachel said through a tight smile that made her look like she wanted to bite something. “How considerate of you, Ryder.”

“And I wouldn’t want to inconvenience your wedding planner.” Ryder turned the full brunt of his smile on Claire as he took her hand in his. “Claire, is it?”

It took most of her strength to get her tongue unglued from the roof of her mouth, mainly because the heat of his hand was branding her nerve endings with the glorious feel of him. “That’s correct.” What wasn’t correct was how her brain slipped its gears to plunge her into the heart of fantasyland the moment he touched her. With shocking ease she imagined how the glide of his hands, as big as baseball mitts, might feel against other, more intimate parts of her body. With one glance at his made-for-sin lips, she could almost feel them molding against hers, seducing her with the promise of dark pleasures. She had no doubt he would be a reckless lover. This modern-day gladiator looked as though he lived to conquer his intended target inch by tantalizing inch, unveiling her as he would a piece of fine art to revel in a slow, sensual exploration first by his gaze, then his hands, then his mouth…

A flush of heat rolled through Claire until she thought she glowed with it, and to her dismay sensual warmth bloomed between her thighs. Way to be professional, she thought, horrified. Apparently her little voice of reason was suffering an epic case of laryngitis. And the worst part of it—all he’d done was touch her hand.

---



My First Release Day Ever -- Introducing ZERO FACTOR!

Locke is just so yummy <3

Wow.  August 30th finally came.  From the time I received an acceptance email from Sasha Knight at Samhain Publishing, Ltd. waaaaaaaay back in late February, I've been looking forward to this day.  My first-ever release day.


I've had YEARS to think about how I'd celebrate this event.  Since scantily clad, frolicking cabana boys are expensive, I decided I'd better go the practical route -- if only for this time around -- and focus my attention on promoting the book (see, if I can make enough on ZERO FACTOR, I can afford to get the frolicking cabana boys later). 


I did TONS of blog-hopping, tweeting, Facebooking and chat-rooming.  I met a ton of wonderful, supportive people, and I introduced the exciting subgenre of cyberpunk romance to the lexicon of everyone I met.  I was surprised that many people didn't know what it was, so when I explained that cyberpunk (for me, at least) is an urban, gritty glimpse of a possible dystopian future -- sci-fi without going off-world -- most people seemed to get it.  And if they didn't, I tried to cajole them into picking up ZERO FACTOR to get a clearer picture.  I hope they did. :)

Uh, I have NO tolerance for this stuff. Sad, but true.

But as for the actual CELEBRATING part...  As of August 30th, I kicked off several new traditions.  As soon as the clock struck midnight on the East Coast (eleven o'clock for me), I was on the phone with my sister, and together we watched Samhain's website page for ZERO FACTOR click over from "Pre-Order" to "Add To Cart".  She and I whooped and cried and babbled for what seemed like forever.  Then it was time for the champagne and caviar with my family, until it was time to tipsily head to bed. 


As I said, throughout the day I introduced my novella to everyone I could think of, but I did take enough time to order a charm to commemorate the release of this book.  Since it's a cyberpunk story, the charm is a little computer with keyboard.  With every new release, I'm going to get a charm depicting something about that particular book.  Since I'm rabid for jewelry, this is an excellent motivator to get more books out to share with the rest of the world. =D

See the #72 & #82? Those are sub-category lists - cool!

I also took screenshots throughout the day of my numbers on Amazon slowly changing, until I was below 4,000 on the Amazon booklist.  Since I had been used to seeing ZERO FACTOR at around 150,000, I was pretty excited.  At one point, I was ranked on a couple "Top 100" sub-category lists, above the likes of Gena Showalter and Nora Roberts (they're still there though, while I've already vanished :P). 

 In the sub-catagory of sci-fi/fantasy/ghost romance, I was #84

I even got my first 5-star rating on Amazon, a moment I will NEVER forget.  The most unbelievable thing that happened that first twenty-four hours, though, was seeing ZERO FACTOR climb its way onto Samhain's Best-Seller list.  This finally convinced me that it wasn't just my family buying my book.  Erm, at least, I THINK that's what it means. :D


I'm so grateful to everyone who's put up with me this week.  Thanks to everyone who let me visit their blogs and chatrooms (Hart Johnson, The Galaxy Express, Samhain Cafe), and thanks to everyone who gave me so many fabulous ideas on how to commemorate the release of my first book, ZERO FACTOR.  And, just in case you didn't hear me the first time...

ZERO FACTOR -- IT'S OUT, IT'S OUT, IT'S OUT!!! :D

There I am -- 10th on the Best Sellers list @ Samhain!
(I'm currently 6th. Heh.)

I'm A Best-Seller! Sort of

Recently the fine folks at Samhain Publishing pointed out to their authors and readers that they've installed catagories for their novels so people can find them more easily, just by typing in a specific about that book.  Interested in paranormal?  Type that in.  Like shape-shifters?  That too.  Contemporary?  Absolutely.  It's such an easy, streamlined website to use... and what's GREAT, is that it has a side benefit.



You can be first on a best-seller's list. :)



ZERO FACTOR, the action-packed romance novella that got chosen for Samhain's CYBERSHOCK cyberpunk anthology will be coming out this week (August 30th, whee!), but already pre-orders have put my debut project on the map.  Since it's listed under Anthologies, Science Fiction, Men In Uniform, Post-Apocalyptic and Cyberpunk, it's already sold enough to wind up on all these lists (at least for now).  Though I know it doesn't mean much, I have to admit this made me squee out loud.  You wanna squee with me?  Here we go!

Yay!  Though there aren't that many in this catagory. :P

Yay again! The AMAZING Nathalie Gray (Gridlock author) also did the covers.

*squints* It looks like I'm 9th on this one. Cool!

And I'm 7th here in Sci-Fi.  Woo!

Extreme close-up :)

So there ya go.  I'm having a dream come true, 'cause I'm on a best-seller's list!  At least for the next hour. =D

New Excerpt From ZERO FACTOR!

Wheeeee, just a little over a week away from unveiling ZERO FACTOR, my very first release from the magnificent Samhain Publishing!

To celebrate, I've got another bit of excerpty goodness on tap -- Via and Locke's first kiss (which had absolutely nothing to do with love, and everything to do with staying alive).  Enjoy!

Via knew her life was over. If she were honest with herself, part of her had known it the moment she had left the safety of the agridome. People like her could never put themselves in a position where they would be within spitting distance of the militia, much less work hand in hand with them. To do so was akin to bathing in jet fuel, then playing with a lighter.

And yet she had gone. Like a lamb to slaughter, she had gone.

It was okay, though. As long as she could save the others, she could be at peace with what had to be done now. Not that she was some kind of freaky saint or anything. It was just that as she’d sat in the transport drowning in images of what was to come, she had reached a very basic conclusion—she would rather die than live with the knowledge that she could have done something, but didn’t.

So she wasn’t a saint, and she sure as hell wasn’t even nodding acquaintances with that thing called bravery. If anything, she was too much of a coward to live with the guilt of surviving while everyone else got blown into unrecognizable bits.

“Via? What the hell—?”

She heard Weddo’s shocked voice, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was focusing on what she knew, what she saw, and pushing it with all her might into Locke. She wasn’t sure if she was doing it right. Hell, she didn’t even know if she was doing anything more than simply kissing a stranger and making a ginormous ass of herself. She had only done this sort of thing once before when she was fifteen, and it had been a total accident back then.

By degrees, the frenzied panic boiling through her blood eased like a tight fist unfurling, and new, thoroughly unexpected sensations began to seep in through the smothering veil of fear. For just a heartbeat the universe seemed to pause, a collective holding of breath while even the sound of the bustling city’s daily life came to a gentle stop. For Via, there was only this fragile moment as her mouth molded to his, and a shocking thrill of pleasure bloomed like fireworks in her brain when his lips softened and returned the pressure with interest. Her booted feet barely touched the ground as she kept her arms wrapped tightly around his strong neck, and delight mingled with relief when his free arm curled about her waist to bring her fully against the rock-solid length of his battle-hardened warrior’s body. His breath was warm, his taste tantalizing. The seductive nuzzling of his silk-over-steel lips against hers invited her untutored mouth to explore deeper, and she saw no reason why she should resist when she knew they were living on borrowed time.

A tremulous note of discord whispered from her psyche into his, a never-ending ricochet rippling noiselessly between them. The pleasure bounced back and forth as well, doubling and trebling as it went, but threaded through it was what the vision had shown her. But that was okay too. If this was to be her last moment of life, she was determined to pour every ounce of joy, vitality and pleasure she could into this kiss. If anything, she was happy for this final opportunity to go out with a bang.

“Lieutenant Locke, attention!”

It was the strangest thing, was all Via could think while her pulse pounded in her ears and in the lips that had become the most sensitive part of her body. It was as though she and this man—a militia man, for God’s sake—had discovered that with a kiss, they could create a magical little sphere where only they existed, and nothing of the gritty, desperate, dangerous place that was their world could encroach on their private slice of perfection. Then her lips drifted like a dream away from his, and the restless throb of the ever-bustling city once again filled her ears. But nothing felt the same. She wasn’t the same. As mad as it sounded, she felt changed from the inside out.

Were kisses supposed to change the world?

Via opened eyes she couldn’t remember closing, and gazed up in dazed confusion at the man she held with all the passionate fervor of a long-time lover. Where was the explosion? Had she interrupted the sequence of events? Was everyone safe?

Everyone except her, of course. Her safe life was officially over now that she had revealed to a gun-toting jarhead member of the militia that she was a psionic.

Dayum.

Titles (Or Lack Thereof), a Blurb and an Excerpt from ZERO FACTOR!

So... my newly contracted holiday steampunk project doesn't have a title. It did, once. But the powers-that-be at Carina Press have decided the title TICK TOCK GOES THE CLOCK had to go. Don't ask me why. Personally, I'm putting the blame on that perennial class-act, Ke$ha. :)


So while I wait on pins and needles to find out what the steampunk project will eventually be called, my mind can't help but drift onto another project of mine. Specifically, ZERO FACTOR.


I'm just a little over five weeks out from its August 30th release date, and I have to say I'm getting pretty nervous. Not the queasy, I'm-going-to-my-doom nervous, like I was sort of expecting. This is the kind of nervous excitement that comes with the anticipation of Christmas, or a longed-for vacation, or maybe even the arrival of a brand-new baby. I'm trying to be calm about it, because being a spazz about my cyberpunk novella's release will only make me more nuts, but it's impossible. I. Am. Excited.

When Samhain offered an open call for novellas for a cyberpunk anthology, an idea I'd had for some time sprang immediately to the forefront, molding itself into a futuristic frame before I was even fully aware of it.  You see, this idea -- the concept of a psychometric empath having to hide her powers from a Nazi-like state -- was just so COOL, I've wanted to write about it for years.  But I could never figure out how to make it work.  If it weren't for Samhain constantly keeping themselves on the cutting edge of fiction and exploring subgenres like cyberpunk, the story of Via and Locke probably would never have been told. 


Have I mentioned recently how much I love Samhain? If I haven't, shame on me. I love Samhain with an undying fire, and I hope I'm lucky enough to publish with them as long as my brain is capable of coming up with stories.

So without further ado, time to post one of the two official excerpts from ZERO FACTOR. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Armed and dangerous…

A Cybershock story.

Born a psionic—a rare human prized by the government for her gifts—agridome worker Via Brede lives by two simple rules: slip into stealth mode whenever the cybernetic-enhanced militia is near. And never remove the gloves that block her psychic ability.

During a routine delivery, a tear in her glove connects her with what should be her worst nightmare. A meched-out soldier with bulging muscles and a scarred face that makes her heart pound like a pneumatic drill. She also envisions his death in an attack that happens…now.

Locke’s typically ho-hum mission goes sideways when the stunning, green-eyed bubble farmer plants a sensual kiss that sets fire to every one of his remaining man-nerves. He also sees her vision. His own commander is about to kill him.

He needs Via to find out why. First step is to get her to Old Las Vegas without succumbing to a raw, sexual need that burns in him like fever. Getting there will be a snap. Getting out alive—and winning her trust—might be a little tougher.

Product Warnings

This title contains mild violence, blow-your-mind Psionic sex, buns of steel (literally) and the usual hanky-panky at a bordello. Author is not responsible for side effects, including locked-and-loaded hunks taking your dreams by force.



 And here is ZERO FACTOR's first official EXCERPT.  It's the entire first chapter, and here's a hint: everything that is seen in the first chapter is important in the last.  Pay attention now. ^_^

Ta-Daaaa! A Brand New Blog! Oooh, It's Shiny...

Hi there, and welcome to my brand-spankin’-new blog! *throws confetti* 

For those of you who don’t know, I write romances.  I love reading them, dreaming them up, and making them come into being (no, not THAT way; I’m talking about writing here).  Wonder of wonders, I’ve recently found some uber-fab people at Samhain Publishing who feel the same way I do when it comes to romance.   Just yesterday I signed my second contract with Samhain for a cyberpunk novella by the name of ZERO FACTOR to be released as an ebook in August, and part of a trade-paperback cyberpunk anthology released some time in 2012 (as soon as I get firm dates, you can bet your bippy I’ll scream them from the rooftops).

But romantic fiction is not the only genre I’m interested in.  Far from it.  As I’ve journeyed through the (seriously convoluted) process of getting published, I’ve met some extraordinary writers and people in the publishing business from all genres whom I never would have met otherwise.  It pretty much goes without saying that while I love the romance genre, I am IN love with all writers who believe in the stories hammering about in their heads.  To believe so much in those stories, and in one’s ability to share them with the world, is an awe-inspiring thing.  I’m so thankful I’ve managed to stumble into a world filled with such incredibly brave and talented people.

Have you ever had an idea for a story that just wouldn’t leave you alone, or a daydream that kept you up at night?  Beware – you might be a writer in the making.