Latest Release Cover Reveal

Thanks again to the wonderfully talented Steven Novak for my latest cover.
Hearts and Crowns is the story of Gallien, grandson of the original hero of The Montbryce Legacy series.
Gallien has sworn never to wed again after a catastrophic marriage to a shrew who betrayed him with another man.
You know the old saying, Once bitten...twice shy.

Peridotte de Pontrouge has long dreamed of marrying Geoffrey Plantagenet, but her hopes are dashed when he is betrothed to the daughter of King Henry of England.
Political intrigue forces Gallien and Peri to marry against their will.
Here's a snippet from the betrothal ceremony, the first time Gallien and Peri meet.

Peri paused before the small wooden door to the Chart Room of Ellesmere Castle. “A moment,” she whispered to the Comte d’Anjou’s emissary.

Ballustre bowed, stroking his pointed beard. A tight smile flickered for only a moment, betraying his nervousness.

She smoothed her hands over her skirts and carefully adjusted the veil that threatened to slide from her braided hair. Alys had worked her usual magic with the wrinkled gown, barking orders at the maidservant sent by the Countess as if she were the lady of the castle. They had chosen the gown of forest green wool because it suited her skin and hair color—and her mood. This was not the festive occasion she had dreamed her betrothal ceremony would be.

She had not slept. None of the Montbryce men had returned by the time she had retired to her chamber the previous evening.

She raised her chin, then turned to her escort. Despite the dread churning in her belly, she said, “I am ready.”

He laid his palm against the door. It swung open without a sound and he ushered her inside. Her knees threatened to buckle as she stepped over the threshold into a new life she did not want. She was to be bound to a man who had not welcomed her and who had failed to appear this morning in the Great Hall.

She had broken her fast in uncomfortable silence with Fleurie and Isabelle, nibbling on a crust of freshly baked bread, feeling like a prisoner condemned to the gallows.

Determined to appear unruffled, she thrust out her chin. Her gaze fell on two heads of silver hair, both bent to the close study of some document upon the table. She faltered. By the wood of the true cross! Had King Henry betrothed her to an old man?

At her gasp, both men looked up. They shared a resemblance, except one was a good deal older than the other. The older man smiled, his eyes full of warmth and welcome.

The younger, taller knight straightened. Back rigid, lips in a tight line, he narrowed his eyes. Her belly lurched. Gooseflesh marched across her nape. She had never seen a young man with hair the color of moonbeams. It was strangely compelling. The unrelieved black of his doublet, hose and boots made his appearance all the more startling. Under his dark gaze, she felt like a rabbit caught in a snare.

He was much taller than she, a broad-shouldered warrior whose bearing and attire left no doubt about his wealth and power. It was immediately evident he did not welcome this betrothal. He did not want her.

Hearts and Crowns is available on Amazon.

Finding Mr. Right! The Evolution of a Book Cover

When I took the plunge into self publishing and brought out my debut novel, Conquering Passion, I created my own cover. I have only rudimentary skills with Photoshop and therefore it was a basic design.

The book sold very well on Amazon, as did the subsequent books of the same series, The Montbryce Legacy. I came to realize the books needed professionally designed covers that would tie them together as a series. This came to fruition with the help of Kim Killion from Hot Damn Designs.

But, you know how something niggles at the back of your mind when you are with a fellow you just know is not Mr. Right? 

The warrior on the cover of Conquering Passion began to get on my nerves! He was too “bulky”, too “in your face” (though the same model works brilliantly on the cover of The Winds of The Heavens, designed by Kate Sterling). I love this cover so much I use it as my Titter background!

So I began a search for the right man, and I am delighted to tell you I have found the face that best represents my hero, Ram de Montbryce. Ram is important to the series. Conquering Passion is his love story, but he appears in many subsequent books. He is the rock of the family.

So without further ado, I give you the real Ram! Hope you love him as much as I do. I think we will be together for many happy years! Heartfelt thanks to my designer Steven Novak for bringing him to life. Let me know which one you like best. I'll gift a free digital copy to one lucky winner. Remember your email address, substituting at for @ and dot com for .com.

Welcome Ruth Glick Writing As Rebecca York

It's a treat today to welcome Rebecca York, an author with a wealth of experience to share, both in traditional publishing and indie. Tell me, Rebecca, if you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
I grew up in Washington, DC, and love living outside the city, where I can drive in to the Kennedy Center or to see the cherry blossoms. I’d love to live somewhere warm in the winter because I hate the cold, but it would be difficult to move my three cats to an alternate location.

I sympathize. I’m struggling with what to do with one cat when we go away for long periods. Have you had other careers before becoming a writer?
I was a college student, a graduate student and a mom before starting to write articles for my local paper. I gradually slipped from articles into novels.

Are you a full time writer or do you have a “day job”?
I am a full-time writer, and I always have several projects going in various stages of development. I might be writing a novel and working on a proposal. If I stop and edit a novel, I focus on the editing until I've been all the way through the manuscript.

Do you have other talents? Or is there a talent you don't have that you wish you did?
I wish I could draw better. And I wish I could sing. And I wish I knew Photoshop (but not enough to spend time learning it). I am a great cook. I’m good at gardening and decorating and craft projects.

My eyes glaze over after a while trying to figure out Photoshop. How did you get started writing?
I started my career writing articles for newspapers and magazines. The idea of writing a whole book would have terrified me back then. Some of my early articles were food oriented, and that led to my first cookbook, DON’T TELL ‘EM IT’S GOOD FOR ‘EM, which I wrote with two other authors. (This got me an entrée into the low-fat market, which is a whole other story.)

 

I was always interested in writing fiction, so I gradually began writing novels while I kept up my nonfiction career. My first novel was a kids' science-fiction story, INVASION OF THE BLUE LIGHTS, which I wrote in a class at my local community college. I read it chapter by chapter to the group, did a ton of editing, and started sending it out on my own. I got four form rejections. Then an editor at Scholastic wrote me a two-page revision letter. I was smart enough to know it was a good letter and took her suggestions, adding more stuff of my own. I sold it to her, then got the contract and knew I didn't have a clue about what to ask for; so I got an agent to negotiate the contract. The book is now available in an electronic version (see http://tinyurl.com/Invasion-BlueLights ).

My career took another direction when a friend asked me if I wanted to write a romance, I told her I hadn't read any, and she brought me shopping bags full. I loved them because they were an expansion of the romance subplot I’d always looked for in the books I read. And here were whole books where it was the main plot. I started in straight romance and quickly got bored with that. I wanted more action and switched to romantic suspense. My agent sent my first romantic suspense to Harlequin Intimate Moments, and the editor said it had “too much plot.” 

Lucky for me, Dell was looking for women’s fiction that combined romance and suspense. My first romantic-suspense series was THE PEREGRINE CONNECTION for them. Then the Harlequin Intrigue line started. At first, the plots were pretty timid, but when they began taking more mature plots, my agent submitted to them, and they liked my idea for 43 LIGHT STREET, a series centered on a building in downtown Baltimore. If you move in there, someone will come at you with a knife or a gun—but you’ll find a great guy to help save your life. And the two of you will end up happily ever after. After years of writing romantic suspense—usually with paranormal elements—I know that’s where I belong.

How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I've written 140 books and novellas. My favorite is usually the book I’m working on at the moment; but right now, I’m still in love with Frank Decorah, the hero of ON EDGE. I will always love Ross Marshall, the hero of my first werewolf book, KILLING MOON. Another personal favorite is DAY OF THE DRAGON—again because I love the hero, Ramsay Gallagher.

Wow! 140! Tell us about your current series. I’m most excited about my Decorah Security series, my entrée into the indie market. It revolves around a detective agency where all the agents have paranormal powers or take on paranormal cases.

I launched the series with a novel, DARK MOON, a novella, CHAINED, and a short story, AMBUSHED. During 2012 I added another novel, DARK POWERS, and a short story, HOT AND DANGEROUS. This year I published ON EDGE—all the while keeping up my “day job,” writing for Harlequin Intrigue, Sourcebooks and Carina Press. I've put several of the above titles together into a DECORAH SECURITY COLLECTION that’s doing really well on Amazon.

Indie publishing is a wild ride with some big advantages and also some disadvantages. Nobody tells you how long to make the book. If you have an idea that will work better for a short story than a novel, you can go write and publish it. And nobody censors you. If your bad guys tend to use the “F” word when they’re angry, they can sling the trash talk with the best of them.

Then there’s the book cover. Over the years, I've been disappointed by so many of the covers my publisher has provided for my books. Now I get to pick the guy, the pose and the background. It’s exactly MY vision of my story, which is more satisfying than you know. And it doesn't matter if romantic suspense is “in” or “out” or if an editor wants paranormal or not. I can do it my way.

What is your least favorite part of writing?
I hate facing a blank page. I try to write as fast as I can so I can go on to the fun part—editing.

What is your typical day like?
I get up and read e-mail, do some social media stuff and read some of the paper. Somewhere along the line, I eat a little breakfast. By eleven, I panic that I haven’t written anything and get started on my current project. My goal is to write ten pages a day. If I try to write more than fifteen, my production for the next day will be very low. If I haven’t written ten pages by 10:00 in the evening, I keep working.

I wish I had your discipline! How does your family feel about your career?
As a dumb little 18-year-old, I was somehow smart enough to find the perfect husband, a guy who’s supported my career since the beginning. Not only that, because I can’t spell and proofread, he does that for me. He loves getting involved in the business of writing and loves going to conferences with me.

What a great guy! How has your experience with self-publishing been?

I love being in charge of my own books, covers and production schedule. I've sold more than twenty-seven thousand indie books, but I’d love to sell more. Part of the key to success in self publishing, I think, is in having a lot of books out. I wish I had the rights back to older traditionally-published books, but that’s not going to happen. That means I've had to produce a lot of new material while still working for traditional publishers. I think that if I were not a very experienced writer, I wouldn't be able to produce the volume of work I’m putting out now.

What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?

Never put out a book that hasn't been professionally edited.

What advice to you have for aspiring writers?
Apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. Work at your writing as many hours a day as you can. Find a good critique group or critique partner because you can’t always evaluate your own golden words. But I emphasize the word “good” here. You need advice you can trust.

Great words of wisdom, Rebecca. Thank you.

The Big Reveal

I am delighted to announce the unveiling of new covers for my third medieval romance series, The FitzRam Family.

The completion of this project signifies a milestone for me. All ten of my published books now have professionally designed covers.For this series I worked with Steven Novak, (http://www.novakillustration.com/bookcovers.html) who also did the covers for Mimi Barbour’s new releases, Partners and Roll the Dice. Like Mimi, I can heartily recommend him.

The process of working with a designer to produce covers can be a trying one. Sometimes it’s hard to achieve a meeting of the minds. Steven was open to all my ideas and willing to make lots of changes. He wanted me to be comfortable with the finished product, and I am!

Special thanks to fellow authors Mimi Barbour, Helen Scott Taylor (Oceans Between Us) and Lois Lavrisa (Liquid Lies) for permission to use quotes from their reviews.

So without further ado, here are the covers.

I've Re-Covered!

The transformation process is complete!

Nine months ago when I began my publishing odyssey, I was an unknown author. I did not hold out great expectations for the sale of my stories, so I designed my own covers to save money.

Little did I know that I would garner a loyal following of readers and that several of my books would make it to the top 100 in Amazon’s Romance Series category.

I decided the books had earned professionally designed covers.

The process began with my second series, Sons of Rhodri. I was put in touch with Kate Sterling who designed the beautiful cover for The Winds of the Heavens.

Thrilled with this cover, I asked Kate to do Defiant Passion and Dark and Bright. I think you’ll agree she did a masterful job.

The new covers brought an immediate increase in sales! Buoyed by this, I made the decision to re-cover my first series, The Montbryce Legacy.

This was a larger task since all four books are available in paperback as well as digital, and so I needed more than just fronts.

Since Kate had retired in the interim, I researched different designers and decided to go with Kim Killion of Hot Damn Designs. She has produced a unified “feel” for the series and I am very pleased with the results. Kim and her cohorts, Jennifer and Abby were great to work with, very patient with my idiosyncrasies and ramblings!

Anyone who has trawled the many websites of stock photos knows how time consuming and unfruitful it can be, especially for a writer like myself whose stories are set in the Middle Ages! 

One of the advantages of Kim’s company is that they have stock photos of their own to choose from, all of which are specifically geared to romance stories.

Hope you like the results of their hard work too!

Free Partay -Are You Ready?

For two days only, Free Partay will offer kindle ebooks FREE. June 13 and 14. Here's your chance to download my medieval romance, The Winds of The Heavens, for FREE.

Kudos to designer Kate Sterling for the sexy new cover on this book.

Click on the Free Partay banner above for a list of FREE ebooks, or click here to go directly to The Winds of The Heavens.

Blurb: They had always shared everything, but could they share a woman?