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Showing posts from August, 2016

Road Tripping With Romance - Adventures of Two Romance Writers

So several months ago, fellow Sourcebooks Casablanca author Sara Humphreys came up with this idea of the two of us going on a road trip to promote our new books - Always My Girl and Trouble Walks In.  Both books are contemporary romances that have a friends-to-lovers trope and really, it sounded like fun.  So I was on board immediately and we had to come up with a plan to convince Sourcebooks to back us on it. This is the original design I did to introduce the idea to them: And this is what the professionals put together for us. Let's just say that I have no future in graphic design. We worked up a plan and set the dates and on August 16th, Sara arrived here in North Carolina (where I live) and we kicked off our tour.  Our first stop was at Page 158 Books in Wake Forest where we did a Q&A with readers and our hosts were amazing - there was a chocolate fountain and fresh fruit and then afterwards, one of the ladies who was there - who owns a candy store - invited

Beware Mercury retrograde!

Mercury retrograde, oh no! Do you believe in the stars aligning or miss aligning and that it affects you? A lot of people do. I’m not saying if I do or I don’t. But be warned, Mercury goes retrograde today. You may notice a change in the way mechanical devices and electronics behave, or rather misbehave, and communication between people may break down. Oh, joy. Like we don’t have enough going on in our lives. To be honest, I’ve been experiencing Mercury retrograde symptoms for the past two weeks… And the quick little planet was even traveling in the right direction! I tried to self-publish something, and Murphy stepped in, making everything that could go wrong, go wrong. Ugh. But it's finally out there. This is just one of the reasons I really appreciate having a publisher. And why I don’t mind giving up some of my royalties to them. They earn those royalties as far as I’m concerned. They hire and pay the editors, cover artists, formatters, and printers. They

A Very Jaguar Christmas Coming Oct 4! And 5 Free Books!!

I'm working on White Wolf Christmas now, and need to decide what's next in the series. Billionaire! White Wolf? Not sure what else...so have to give it some thought! In the meantime, getting ready for the release of A Very Jaguar Christmas where the jaguars and wolves' world turn upside down because of one little Arctic wolf pup! And I'm still gardening, more watermelons and bell peppers on the way. And I'm photographing everything from jaguars at the San Diego Zoo (RWA conference), butterflies at the botanical gardens, or in my own yard, and trying to capture the busy little hummingbirds hovering so fast and zipping about my flowers in shots. But here are a couple of special photos I captured while I was in San Diego, at home, and Scotland last September. Jaguar, San Diego Zoo Monarch Butterfly, San Diego Botanical Gardens Calf having Supper at Sunset, Neist Point Lighthouse overlook, Isle of Skye, Scotland Skipper Butterfly in my G

What Did You Do This Summer?

It's the first question every kid gets asked when they return to school. What did you do this summer?  It starts off as a fun question and usually ends up being the first essay. So as summer is winding down, I wanted to share with you some of the highlights from my summer.  One of the best events for me was the release of If the Earl Only Knew !  I know I'm biased, but I love this book.  Kate is absolutely one of my favorite heroines.  Yes, I like them feisty! Our big vacation/work trip this summer was to drive down to San Diego for the Romance Writers of America Annual Conference. It was truly amazing. So much information, so many good people! Here I am at the Casablanca Author dinner next to Shana Galen and Theresa Romain - both were RITA nominees for  Earls Just Want to Have Fun  and  Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress , respectively. I admit, I was hoping to catch some of the some of the positive mojo from these two talented ladies! Along the way on our trip I go

Sultry Southern Summers

by Adriana Anders With the blazing heat of summer still lingering and the humidity wrapped around us like a damp beach towel, I can’t help but think about the second book in my Blank Canvas series— By Her Touch . It’s a moody, emotional read, set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. When we meet our hero and heroine, they’re in the midst of a midsummer heat wave. Have you ever experienced one of those in the South? If you have, you’ll know that you’ve got two choices. Escape it by heading for cooler climes or embrace it with some of these sultry southern summer pursuits. They may not help you beat the heat, but they might get you to forget it. Slow times with good friends on porches . Ever notice how people down south can spend hours just watching the world go by? There’s a reason for that: they know better than wasting valuable energy trying to move. Sittin’ and Sippin’ Mint Juleps, Sweet Tea, Bourbon or Sour Mash. It’s just a matter of taste what poison

Musical Inspiration

Music has always played an important role in my life as it has for many people. If books are my refuge then music is my foundation. So when I sat down to write my first novel I was told over and over to use what I knew and since I know marketing and music I chose to write about marketing set against a backdrop of heavy metal and rockabilly. My taste in music is fairly eclectic…I like a little of everything (except country, the only country I like is Sam Hunt and the Mavericks, but that’s another story). For me, music is a family affair. In my teens and early 20s, I spent a lot of time seeing bands: punk, rockabilly, ska, rock, metal, you name it. Before kids, my husband and I spent a lot of time in blues clubs and going to festivals. Once our children started developing their own interest in music we expanded our musical road trips to include Taylor Swift, EDM, death metal (I still shudder a little when someone mentions the Black Dahlia Murder), Imelda May, George Ezra, Purity Ring.

My WTF Job

Be sure to check out the Coffee Mug Pre-Order Offer at the end of the post! It started at the interview… I interviewed for a job at small gift shop in my town. I enjoyed going into this shop because they had unique items that I couldn’t find anywhere else. One day I noticed they had a help wanted sign up. So of course I applied! I had just graduated with my BA in psychology and had decided to take a year off before returning to grad school. During the interview the owner of business told me that I’d be working only twenty hours a week—twenty-five max. She told me she needed someone to learn how to make the unique, one-of-a-kind gift baskets that the store was known for. I told her that I was more than willing to learn. That sounded fun! On my first day of work, the owner told me to go upstairs with one of the employees so she could teach me how to make gift baskets. So I spent a few hours learning the basics of gift baskets. You wouldn’t think they were complica