Samhain Publishing

I'd like to welcome the hero and heroine, Alex Donovan & Maddie Saunders from my latest contemporary romance, WHAT A GIRL WANTS to the Samhain blog. I hope you enjoy my interview with them.

Selena: Thanks for jumping out of the book to join me today. Maddie, let's start with you. What was your journey like in What A Girl Wants? 

Maddie: The plane trip from to Hawaii was uneventful—

Alex: I have to interrupt here. Uneventful? Is that what you call it?

Maddie: Come on, Alex, even you have to admit it was classic. Besides, you laughed at the prank I pulled on you. Anyway, as for your initial question, Selena, I enjoyed the adventures you created for us, especially the humorous moments. Of course, what’s a romance without heartache, physical pain, angst and and ton of conflict?

Selena: Are you complaining about all that?

Maddie: Me? Never. I’m not a complainer, especially to my creator who has total control of my destiny. I may be a little impetuous—

Alex: A little?

Maddie: Okay, maybe more than a little. But as I told you off the pages, Alex, Selena gave me those traits. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Selena: Your turn, Alex. How would you describe was your journey in this book?

Alex: There’s no other book I’d rather have been created in, even with all the pain we both went through. Maddie’s right, the humor helped a lot, especially when it got real serious and sorrowful.

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In 2001, Shakira released her album “Laundry Service”.  On that record is the excellent song, “Underneath Your Clothes”.  Her lyrics tell us, “You own the place where all my thoughts go hiding, right under your clothes is where I find them”. When we read our romance novels, aren’t we all waiting for that scene where we finally get to see the secret underneath the hero’s clothes?

The first “secret” revealed by the undressing of our hero is to what extent our hero is muscled.  Authors commonly give us above average height heroes, but the men are put together on a spectrum of muscle mass.  My favorite hero body type depends on the novel setting.  I love a Viking to be a man that resembles something just this side of a wall.  Thick, muscled biceps should catch the flickering firelight as he lifts the fur mantle from his chest and lays it on the ground for his woman.  While calves don’t get much ink, my mouth always waters at the graphic description of buckskin breeches straining across my Regency heroes thighs.

Modern day heroes I like to picture longer and leaner.  A designer suit hangs well on the smooth swimmers body.  Once he tosses his jacket aside and rolls up his pressed white shirt, I want to see lean, corded forearms…perhaps a foreshadowing of territory farther south?

And what about when the sheriff finally puts down his gun and unbuttons his staid brown shirt.  I catch my breath imaging the rippling abs of a man who spends his tormented nights beating up the police station’s punching bag.  The open shirt shows us just a hint of the golden hair trailing down to the waistband.

There is one more treasure hidden beneath the hero’s clothes that holds appeal for many readers.  That certain appendage is difficult to blog about while “stopping at the bedroom door”, so forgive my puns.  Personally there are certain “lengths” that writers go to that push me out of the fantasy, but who I am to say that isn’t exactly what the next reader wants.  Needless to say, I am certain that no matter the words the author uses, each reader applies their own idea of proportion perfection to visualize the vampire lord’s “burden” when eases his need in his lonely marble shower.

Isn’t that part of the appeal in escaping into a romance novel?  Every romance reader can create “her territory” underneath the hero’s clothes. If the author insists her Viking is the hulk without all the green, how can she stop you from picturing 6’1” of lean flesh who could be Ryan Gosling’s body double?

~Margo Lukas

Half Moon Rising

"…a story too thrilling to put down." MrsGiggles.com

 

Whenever inspiration for a new book hits me it comes in many forms. Sometimes I'll hear a phrase and think it would make a good title, then I'm stuck trying to create a story to match. One thing I've noticed about titles is how they usually match their genres. I've actually stood in the bookstore laughing as I peruse the Romance shelves, and realize this may be why some poeple still snub the genre as a whole. I'm not saying they should and I certainly have no qualms about purchasing a book with Sex in the title, but I can see how others might. So as I was strolling through Samhain's virtual book aisles a few really jumped out at me.

Grill Me Baby by Sophia Knightly is a great title. It made me laugh out loud and I loved the cover, but I can see how accidentally coming across this book while looking for grilling tips might not be a good thing. Nailed to the Wall by Jayne Rylon certainly isn't a home improvement book, I don't think, but looks to be a hot read. Suck and Blow by Lexxie Couper…yeah, I got nothing. I would love to read it though. Ride to Ecstasy by Ann Cory. Is this one about horseback riding perhaps? Umm, no I don't think so. But it too has a great cover and is definitely on my to be read list.

Since so many poeple judge books by their covers, do you think they also judge by their titles? I do and have found that some people who look at my titles do too. At a recent book event, copies of They Call Me Death certainly grabbed more male attention than female. But then the guys saw the paranormal romance on my sign and quickly turned away. Le sigh. 

-Missy Jane

*Make reading a guilty pleasure…*

www.authormissyjane.com

I recently spent 11 days in Kona, Hawaii with my husband and fellow adventurer. 

The beautiful Big Island is rimmed with rugged lava shores, making it less attractive to those who insist on sandy beaches. But, more attractive to those of us who love to spy on the inhabitants of Hawaii's turquoise oceans.

Yes, there are lovely beaches here–Hapuna is one of the prettiest stretches of white sand you'll find in the tropics. Great place to stroll with your toes in the sand, play in the surf and toast your skin a darker shade of gold. You can body surf at Magic Sand Beach, watch turtles at Black Sand Beach.

But the predominantly rocky shores of this newest of the islands mean there is less sand rolling in the surf, and thus the water is clearer–better for snorkeling and diving. Ah, bliss. The islands are surrounded by coral reefs, full of a dazzling array of tropical fishes, eels, turtles, and even dolphins and … sharks.

 

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Hi, all! Jennifer here.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I really think the ENDING of a story is more important than the BEGINNING of a story.

I know there are some of you out there shaking your heads, but I feel strongly about this. I have read many a book that have started out slooooow and had no “hook” beginning sentence. That might have given me a niggle of doubt about the book, but I would read on, only to be sucked into the story by page 15 or so. So all was well and by the end I was happily satisfied by the read.

But, recently, I finished a book that had all the makings of the perfect read. It had great romance. Awesome humor. Creative storyline. Cool action. In short, I was LOVING this book.

Then I came to the ending…

I am not exaggerating when I say that when I finished and closed the book, I actually had a sick feeling in my stomach. And I’m sure if there was a mirror nearby, my expression would have resembled one who was just told chocolate causes cancer.
I eventually shook myself from the teetering brink of depression—after a few Hershey Kisses—and came to the conclusion of how important endings are in the stories we read and/or write.

WHY? Because the ending (good or bad) stays with you long after the book is closed. And that can ultimately decide for a reader whether they want to give that author another shot or not.
Something to think about.

What about you? Will an ending make or break a book for you MORE than the beginning?

Jennifer fancies herself a more prolific writer than she really is and has an unnatural tendency to use words like “fancies” and “prolific” when describing herself. Please feel free to check out her ebook, The Role of a Lifetime from Samhain Publishing and her recent Avalon romance Sunny Days for Sam–where she promises she didn’t use either of those words in her stories

Have you discovered a favorite author who hasn’t yet reached bestseller status? Do you wish she’d write more and write faster to feed your hunger for her work? You probably didn’t know you have it within your power to make that happen simply by writing a positive review and posting it where others can see.
The internet is a powerful entity and bookselling sites are crowded, especially with the surge in independent publishing. Many authors bypass agents and the built-in editing process of traditional publishers and offer their work directly to readers. In some cases this is a good thing and in some it isn’t. A direct result is a very, very crowded marketplace where it can be difficult to separate the high quality from the trash.
Some truly terrific authors have taken this route and established a name for themselves. But for every one who does, there are numerous other terrific authors struggling to establish a readership. Positive reviews help those authors as much as they help browsing readers. That’s where you come in.
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I'm not talking about a threesome, like in my new release, Birthday Girl, when I say we should share the love.  I'm talking about talking up the books we love, the authors we auto-buy, the stories we keep thinking about days after we turned the last page.

I have found so many new-to-me authors on Twitter. Not from the promo that authors are compelled to do to get the word out there about their new releases. But from discussions between readers in the tweetstream. Sometimes all it takes is one tweet about a book someone loved to have me checking it out. And when I see the same book over and over again, you can be sure I'm going to look it up. 

Word of mouth isn't the same as it used to be. I don't have a group of friends who get together to talk about books. No book club in my area – even if I had the time to leave the house on a evening when I should be writing. Co-workers will mention books they've enjoyed, but that's the best I get in real life, and they are almost all romantic suspense. Nothing wrong with that, I like romantic suspense, but I like so many other types of books too. So I depend on on-line sources, Twitter, Facebook, blogs. I love to find out about books and authors I haven't discovered. And recommendations from readers go a long way when I make my buying decisions.

So share the love. If you read a book you weren't able to put down, one that made you smile, made you cry, made you stay up way past your bedtime to finish, I want to know about it. And I'm willing to bet a lot of other readers do too.

Natasha

www.natashamoore.com

 

There are so many fabulous things about the digital revolution for readers – and authors – but one I particularly appreciate is flexibility of story length. In author lingo, that’s “word count.” In the world of e-books, it doesn’t much matter how long a book is. You’ll pay more for a longer book, less for a shorter one. But all lengths are welcome. This is great news for someone like me, who absolutely adores the novella form. All of my Samhain books are that length, for a good reason.

As an author, I love writing novellas. I love the punch they pack in a short amount of space. I love the challenge of telling a complete story in little more than a hundred pages. I love honing the story down to its essentials, keeping only those elements that move things along or that truly reveal the characters. Since I’m not a huge fan of writing descriptions of setting, I can keep those short and pithy and focus on the fun part: action, interaction, and ahem, sex.

As a reader, I find novellas equally wonderful. They take a shorter time commitment. The busier I get, the more reluctant I am to pick up a longer book. I want to make extra sure I’m spending time on something I enjoy. With a shorter piece, I’m more willing to give a new author a chance, I find. It doesn’t hurt that novellas are easier on the book budget either. Sometimes I look at a novella as a test of skill. If an author can draw me into a story and make me feel satisfied with a book one third the length of a novel, they’ve done their job well.

To me, a novella is like a delicious morsel of storytelling goodness. It’s long enough to get immersed in, but not so long that it’ll keep you up all night and ruin the next day.

So how do you feel about novellas? Too short? Too long? How much does size matter to you?

Juniper Bell

http://JuniperBell.com

 

Wow, what an amazing journey! Hopefully some of you know I write Samhain erotic romance as Vonna Harper. Recently I’ve jumped into menage/ shape shifting and it’s been a wild ride. Talk about trying something new and having a ball doing it.

That said, I’m here today to talk about something else–Wild and Free. Years ago I wrote it for Harlequin as Vella Munn which is my real name. There, the cat’s out of the bag! The how and why of Wild and Free coming under Samhain’s umbrella is a tad complex, but all that matters is that it happened! And this category romance is only the first of many Samhain and I recently contracted.

Why am I so excited about Wild and Free? That’s simple. It’s about one of my favorite subjects, grizzly bears. I don’t know why I’m hooked on the magnificient creatures but I am. One of the highlights of my life was going to Alaska and spotting three grizzlies. Just thinking about that incredible day gives me chills. Wanna see my pictures?

When I decided to write about grizzlies, I needed to determine what kind of relationship my characters had with the animals. The easy answer was to involve them in grizzly research BUT that wasn’t enough. Time to mix things up, particularly for my hero who was mauled by one and still has nightmares. Finding the courage to do what the woman he’s falling in love with is hard, but if he doesn’t try, he’s going to lose everything that matters to him–including, maybe, both their lives.

Thank you Samhain management for launching the Retro line. I’m delighted to be onboard.

 

Nando Avrogado, the hero of my sixth Konigsburg book, Don’t Forget Me, is a bit of a playboy. The heroine, Kit Maldonado, walked out on him when he cheated, although to be fair she’d already told him to get the hell out of her life before that. When the novel opens, he’s hiding from his latest sort of girlfriend because he doesn’t want to face a discussion about their relationship (which he considers over). As his brother Esteban says, “And that way you just come off as a jerk instead of a sleaze.” Clearly Nando isn’t having a good day—or week or month or year. He’s not a happy man.

Enter the heroine, his former true love. And enter the problem for me while writing their story. Nando devotes himself to winning Kit back almost from the moment he sees her, which certainly helps. But until he knows he has a chance with her, he still wonders about other women. Can a philanderer be forgiven? Is true love possible for someone who’s been a bit of a bastard in his past?

The hero who’s a womanizer is fairly familiar in romance writing. But usually he gives up other women once he meets the heroine. In Nando’s case, he cheated on Kit after a tremendous fight when she told him to get lost. He can claim now that the woman meant nothing to him (and he meant nothing to her) and that he acted out of anger, but the cheating remains. So I was left with the question: can a heroine forgive a cheating hero? Can the two overcome a betrayal that serious?

Obviously, I think they can since my H/H have their happy ending, but I worried a little as I wrote about how willing my readers would be to accept a hero who wasn’t always as straightforward as he should have been. So now I ask you: Are you willing to accept the idea of a reformed ladies man? And if you are (as I obviously hope), how far are you willing to go?

Here’s the blurb for Don’t Forget Me:

Once they said goodbye forever. Now they want to walk it back.
Konigsburg, Texas, Book 6
Eighteen months ago, Kit Maldonado was so over Nando Avrogado, she left Konigsburg without a backward glance. With the family restaurant in San Antonio sold out from under her, though, she’s back to manage The Rose, an exclusive resort eatery outside town.
Dealing with a stingy boss, an amorous head chef, an understaffed dining room and planning her aunt’s wedding should have kept her hands full. But she realizes she might not be as over Nando as she thought.
As the town’s new assistant chief of police, Nando’s got enough trouble without sexy Kit fanning embers he thought had long ago turned to ashes. Every time he turns around, she’s there—and it doesn’t help that everyone in town wants to see them back together.
One incendiary kiss, and there’s no denying the force of their attraction. But there’s a mysterious and oddly familiar burglar who’s been lurking around Konigsburg, someone who isn’t above a little mayhem—maybe even violence—to cover his tracks. 

Product Warnings

Contains hot makeup sex, wedding madness, a hot chef, vengeful burglars, and unlawful abuse of a wedding cake.

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