Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Please welcome TINA DONAHUE and her DANGEROUS DESIRES

I'm celebrating the upcoming release of Passionate Pursuit, book 3 in my Dangerous Desires series with a contest. Read on for more details.


Passionate Pursuit, book 3 Dangerous Desires series.

Warrior knights and the women they simply can't tame.

Available for preorder - ready to read August 2.




Blurb:

Is their passion strong enough to break her chains?

Andalucía Spain, 1489: Innocent Beatriz is desperate to escape the threat of a miserable marriage to a cruel Marquis. Forced into the betrothal by her ruthless merchant papá, her only hope is to conceal her identity and become a servant in a nearby castle—a life drastically different from her comfortable upbringing.

Tomás doesn’t know what to make of his well-spoken new servant girl. Her beauty and charm captivates the military hero; her mysterious nature intrigues him. And the desire she ignites burns brighter with each glance, as does his longing to claim her for his own.

Beatriz can’t resist Tomás’ passion nor deny the heat of her own. But neither the lush countryside nor the walls of the opulent Moorish castle can entirely protect her—and if he were to discover her secret, she could be torn away from him forever. Yet how can she sustain his love if she’s living a lie?




Excerpt:

A gentle breeze carried laughter and converse from the señoritas who surrounded Tomás, each vying for his attention. The one in dark green silk with a matching caul danced around trying to get closer to him. The one in red with a white flower in her hair elbowed past another girl. Those in gold and bright yellow were even less demure, pushing into each other, speaking loudly, far removed from how a lowly servant had to act.

Especially to please Nuncio.

How dare he make her solely responsible for a man’s carnal moves? Beatriz had no control over anyone’s passion except her own. Thus far, she’d failed miserably at quelling her desires.

Despite what Nuncio had said, she still ached to feel Tomás’s heat and strength, to have him imprison and possess her. No threat in the world would change her longing. However, she wasn’t foolish enough to act on her attraction. Poor man already had enough trouble.

His broad shoulders were slumped, mouth turned down. She wanted to make him smile. To have him stand as the noble lord he was, magnificent in his dark blue robe and doublet, his hose snug to his sinewy thighs and calves.

Several young women spoke to him at once. A señorita in a bright yellow gown touched his upper arm. The girl next to her, clad in vivid orange silk, touched his jaw.

Jealousy heated Beatriz’s face and throat.

Tomás drew back until the young woman groped air, not him. He faced the window, his gaze touching Beatriz, his dark brown eyes flooding with warmth, bronze complexion deepening.

Weak with desire, she leaned against the sill for support.

The señoritas gestured to him, talking endlessly, their words too garbled to understand.

Whatever they said, Tomás ignored them. He studied Beatriz’s eyes, then her lips and lingered there. She was smiling without realizing it. He answered with a broad grin and stepped closer.





*** CONTEST *** CONTEST *** CONTEST ***

Win Loving Lies and Wicked Whispers - books 1 and 2 in Dangerous Desires - plus winner gets choice of my backlist ebooks - 25 choices to choose from - full length, bestselling, award winning in contemporary, suspense, paranormal, and menage.



About Tina:


Tina is an Amazon and international bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance for traditional publishers and indie. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. Three of her erotic novels (Freeing the Beast, Come and Get Your Love, and Wicked Takeover) were Readers' Choice Award winners. Another three (Adored, Lush Velvet Nights, and Deep, Dark, Delicious) were named finalists in the EPIC competition. Sensual Stranger, her erotic contemporary romance, was chosen Book of the Year at the French review site Blue Moon reviews. The Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books was created specifically for her erotic romance Lush Velvet Nights. Two of her titles (The Yearning and Deep, Dark, Delicious) received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition. Take Me Away and Adored both won second place in the NEC RWA contest (different years). Tina is featured in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Before penning romances, she worked at a major Hollywood production company in Story Direction.

Amazon author page: http://amzn.to/1ChWFkO
My page at TRR: http://bit.ly/1vb7eEc
EC Author Page: http://bit.ly/1Dh9wor
Samhain Author Page: http://bit.ly/1Bvw6mL
Sweet ‘n Sexy Divas: http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K
Romance Books 4 US: http://bit.ly/1JPtfeS

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Books, Redux: Some of the Perils and Joys of Indie Publishing

Many have remarked that as history has continued, the already hectic pace of modern life was quickened as well. Here in Author-Land we've encountered a phenomenon that's arisen during the digital age: the frequent reversion of previously published works. 

What does that mean, you ask?

When an author "sells" a book to a publisher, s/he is actually licensing one of the bundle of rights that makes up copyright. That right to distribute a written work is finite--that is, it's limited by time. The traditional publishers would generally demand, and get, a term that was functionally infinite. For example, I will never again get the rights back to any of the five works I licensed to Harlequin; their contract specifies that rights are eligible for reversion consideration 5 or 6 years after last use. In other words--all Harlequin needs to do if they want to hang onto one of my works is to reissue it. Which they will do as long as the book is selling, a not unreasonable position. After all, we both want to make money, right?

But ebook publishers have the view that a year or so after publication, few books will sell and therefore, rights revert, meaning that I, the author, get the rights back and I can self- or indie-publish.

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As time has gone on I've re-acquired more and more of my beloved books, including most of my Highland Vampires series, and I've started to reissue them in bright shiny new editions.

The series consists of three novels and three short stories. One of them is owned by Harlequin, so you, Dear Reader, will never get another edition, but here are the first two stories in the series:


Viking in Tartan: Medieval romance from the Highland Vampires series. 

Scotland, Yule Eve, 1260. A Viking raider with mysterious powers brings change to little Clan Kilbirnie, especially to the chieftain’s daughter Rhona.


Temptation in Tartan:


She had to marry a monster…

Rumors had followed the chieftains of Clan Kilborn for centuries. Said to be descended from the Viking Berserkers, they were ferocious in battle, known for tearing off the heads of their enemies and drinking their blood.


But English noblewoman Lydia Swann Williston would marry Kieran, Laird Kilborn, to bring peace to the Kilborn lands after the horror of Culloden and the
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brutal pacification. A widow, she also brought needed wealth to Clan Kilborn. For her part, eighteen-year-old Lydia wanted children. With her husband killed at Culloden, she would make a new life in the Highlands.

The old chieftain of Clan Kilborn also died in battle, and she hoped that the new young Laird would lack his ancestors' ferocity.
  
She was wrong.

*****

It's not always fun to be in total control of one's publishing life. It's often felt burdensome and expensive. 

Re-editing must occur, along with formatting, which includes inserting internal navigation. New covers must be created or purchased--a minimum $100 charge. And then, there's the promo conundrum. Few authors have a background in marketing or promotions, which would have been really helpful. I'm always experimenting with different approaches to help readers find my books.

Yes, it's frustrating and time-consuming, but overall, I'd rather make my own mistakes.