"Stick With It!": Author Darah Lace

Hello Fellow Writers!
So recently I wrote a 5K word erotic story to try and submit to an anthology. They only need 20 entries though, so the chances that mine will be among them is slim, I admit. Still, it was fun to write! I sent it off to one of my beta-readers for critique, and I also took on one novella and one story from two of my beta-readers to read for them, so I will be a busy bee for a while.

Today I asked one of my fellow Ellora's Cave authors, Darah Lace, to chat. She wrote Saddle Broke for EC, and Unmasking Zorro and Bachelor Auction for The Wild Rose Press.

Shoshanna: When did you first get published, and did you get rejections before that?

Darah: Rejections? OMG, yes. I have a file cabinet full of rejection letters from editors and agents. I think that goes with the business we're in. My first novella, Wrong Number, Right Man, was published in 2006 at The Wild Rose Press, but I sort of dropped off the face of the earth for a while. I didn't try again until 2009 and in 2010 I sold to EC (Saddle Broke) and TWRP (Unmasking Zorro and Bachelor Auction). It's been a great year so far.

Shoshanna: If you could go back in time and tell your pre-published self something that you know now about writing, what would it be?

Darah: I'd tell myself, "Self, stop short changing yourself. Don't stop trying. Stick with it!" After a particularly disheartening rejection I lost my self-confidence and it took me way too long to get it back.

Shoshanna: I did the same thing years ago, I got a form rejection and just completely stopped submitting stuff! Fortunately I kept writing, even though I was just sticking my manuscripts in a a drawer, lol.

Without further ado (has anyone ever said "we need more ado?"), here's the blurb for Bachelor Auction:

Marcus Preston wants a relationship built on love and trust, but the woman he wants made it clear long ago she's only interested in fun and games. Yet, moving on proves difficult when no one else can erase the memory of the night they shared last summer.
Charlotte Reese doesn't believe in love, marriage, or happily ever afters. An occasional one-night stand is all she needs to take the edge off her loneliness and enhance the bad-girl image she uses to discourage commitment-seeking men—especially Marcus, the only man to melt both her body and her heart melt.
When Charlotte wins Marcus hot off the block of Houston’s Most Eligible Bachelor Auction and they’re forced to spend the weekend together, she seizes the opportunity to seduce him and extinguish the attraction sizzling between them once and for all. But for Marcus, it’s all or nothing. He won’t be seduced. Instead, he’ll show Charlotte she has more to offer a man than sex.

This week is a holiday week (Have a sweet New Year, L'Shana Tova!) so who knows how much I'll get accomplished. I'll probably get all my reading done if possible. And I still need to outline Protecting Emily. Or maybe I'll just go to temple and not get a thing done...Today I'll write my advice column for The Mahopac News early so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow. Wish me luck, and good luck to you to!


And thanks Darah Lace for joining us! Oh, and by the way, I adore her tagline: The Seduction of Lace.

45 Books Published and Counting: Author Natalie Dae

 Hello Fellow Writers!

As many of you know, now that I'm published with Ellora's Cave (will I *ever* tire of saying that? Nope! lol) I am part of several author groups on Yahoo, and I have the wonderful opportunity to chat with other authors and learn from their years of experience.

Then I thought - hey, let's share! So, I asked author Natalie Dae a couple of questions.

Shoshanna: When did you first get published, and did you get rejections before that?

Natalie: I was first published back in 2006 with one of my other pen names. That book was my first submission, so I got lucky. I’ve been rejected about 6 times now, and since then, in my various names, I have had 45 books published and feature in a few anthologies. I have seven books yet to be published, all in the editing stages, and I’m in the process of writing three more. It’s all go!

Shoshanna: If you could go back in time and tell your pre-published self something that you know now about writing, what would it be?

Natalie: That I can push myself harder and produce better work. I’ve always been a self-doubter, so finding out that there is more inside me that I’ve yet to tap into has been great. We never stop learning, and our voices change over the years, but the experience along the way is so refreshing, I would tell my former self—and myself as I am now!—to stop worrying and just enjoy writing.

Here are the blurbs from two of Natalie's books - click the titles for more info and to read excerpts!

Soul Keeper

Carrie Marsh anxiously awaits her online lover of two years, pacing the station in her stylish red coat with nothing but luxurious black lingerie underneath and stilettos on her feet. Will Rob Edwards really be on the train from Scotland? Will the attraction still exist in person? Can she even stave off the first anticipation-induced orgasm before he arrives? Excitement spirals through her, for Carrie has planned a night to remember.

Rob is shy, and Carrie intends to show him how to unleash his sexy side during a series of sexual encounters. But once he arrives, she can’t wait until they get to the hotel, let alone a bed. No. They hardly make it to the first tree, where anyone could spot their antics.

One unforgettable evening of passion leads two virtual lovers to a lifetime as each other’s soul keeper.

Magenta Starling

Cursed at birth, Dion is a demon who has searched for his beloved for centuries. Upon meeting Morgan, he knows she’s the one he’s been waiting for, the one woman he can love forever, the one woman capable of helping him break the curse. However, Jistin, the curse-giver, has other ideas…

Morgan longs for a relationship and release from her solitary life aboard her yacht, The Magenta Starling. She longs for Dion—who’s not all that he appears. When he reveals his feelings for her, Morgan allows Dion to take her to his world, the realm of Thradmos. Her love for him growing even as she struggles to accept his reality, Morgan realizes she would do anything for him—including give up her life in the real world.

At a party held in celebration of Dion’s impending freedom, Morgan is snatched away by Jistin. In a final battle, Dion will fight not only for his freedom, but also that of his beloved, lest he be cursed for all eternity…and lose Morgan in the process.

Thanks, Natalie, for sharing, and come back to The Writer's Challenge to visit anytime! 

 I also want to point out that Natalie's book Soul Keeper is a "Quickie", which is what my book Ginger Snap will be. And now you've gotten a preview of what *my* book cover for Ginger Snap will look like, because I actually chose the same Quickie cover that she did, lol!

Can You Write Two Books at the Same Time?

Hello Fellow Writers!

Love that comic by Dave Coverly. It tells how I'm feeling at this moment! Um, figuratively, that is.

My self-imposed internet restriction has gone smashingly well. I don't even need all the time I allotted myself. The trick has really been to avoid constantly checking my email inbox. Three times a day and I'm good! There's no way people can say that I don't get back quickly if I go online thrice daily, right?

Last night I finished writing an erotic novella tentatively titled "Chastity Belt". One of the main characters, Casey, gets involved in a menage with the couple in Chastity Belt. But Casey deserves her own HEA, so I'm thinking about presenting Chastity Belt as Book One in The Gentlemen's Club series, (the GC is the name of the exclusive BDSM-flavored club the book is set in) - and Book Two would star Casey as the heroine. Whaddya think?

Of course that means now I *really* want to get started on Casey's story. But I've also got this epic book roaming through my head that I think really needs to get out and get on paper...um, keyboard. In my head, this book is tentatively titled "Protecting Emily". And it's a *big* book. Longer than anything I've ever written. So I probably need to get some sort of outline going.

Part of me thinks - hey, outline Protecting Emily while you write Casey's as-of-yet untitled story! But I just don't think I can write two books at the same time. Can you?

A Website I'll actually Update

Hello Fellow Writers!

I've redone my ShoshannaEvers.com site because the old one, while flashy and fun, was slow and impossible for me to easily maintain. The new one is easy peasy! And I think it's more user friendly too. I *know* it's more Shoshanna friendly!

While I wait to hear back from Jilly (my editor at Ellora's Cave) about Hollywood Spank, I've been hard at work on another novella tentatively titled Chastity Belt. And um, yes, the belt does come off ;) It is an erotic romance after all!

I got to pick my Quickie cover for Ginger Snap, the erotic Christmas story I sold to Ellora's Cave. For the Quickies you get to choose from about 40ish standard covers that they just add your title and name to. Not as much fun as having a custom cover designed for you, but it's *always* nice to see your name on the cover of a book, so I'm still excited :)

Yesterday I realized I wasted hours - yup, hours - online, with very little to show for it. So starting today I am on a self-imposed internet restriction. I will go online once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once before bed, for an hour max each time. That should be plenty of time to check and answer email, read blogs, write this blog, maintain my new website, research random stuff for fun, and visit my various (and numerous!) Yahoo groups and forums. Oh, and check Facebook and Twitter!

Three hours total a day should be more than enough time, but I'm already panicking about it. Not to worry. It'll be fine. Right?

And as an added side benefit, I'll have more time to write.
Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!

When Do You Need a Literary Agent?

Hello Fellow Writers!

I've been a busy writer bee lately. I signed the contract with Ellora's Cave for a Christmas themed Quickie titled Ginger Snap, and I resubmitted Hollywood Spank to my editor. Fingers crossed that she buys it!

I also went back to my Taste of Candy erotic romance and decided it could work as a Quickie as well (a Quickie is what Ellora's Cave calls 10k-15k fast-paced erotic romances) so I sent that off to one of my beta-readers to see what she thinks before I submit it to my editor. I want to wait until I get a yay or nay on Hollywood Spank before I submit Taste of Candy, too.

Now I need to get to work on the next project. I have my Chastity Belt book to work on - that went by the wayside when I was doing Punishing the Art Thief edits. So I want to reconnect with that piece.

At what point, I'm wondering, do I need a literary agent? I imagine that now that I've got two books published with Ellora's Cave it might be easier to get my foot in the door, but I'm also wondering if it's a bit premature for me to start handing over 15% (or more) of my royalties.

But then I think - there's probably so much that could be done, that I'm not doing because I don't know any better! An agent could help with that. I love Ellora's Cave (whenever I want to read something hot they are the first place I hit up) but I know that some EC authors write for other publishers as well. I'm not quite sure how that works since EC options your next book when you sign their contract. So that's another thing I suppose an agent could help me with - figuring out all the fine print.

Having a literary agent is one way to avoid the slush pile. That picture above is of an untouched pile of slush in the corner of a publisher's office. An agent gets you past that and onto an editor's desk.

From Agent Query about why we need agents:

Literary agents have connections you don’t. Good literary agents are one-degree-of-separation away from the editors who decide “to buy or not to buy.” Good literary agents are tuned into the literary trends. They know which publishing imprints publish which kinds of books. They hobnob with those editors over lunch. They’re like mini-gods running the literary universe. For better or for worse, they serve as the first gatekeepers in the screening process. Okay, it’s true. The literary agent “hierarchy” adds to the bottleneck. Too many writers competing for the attention of a small pool of movers and shakers. But write a fabulous timely book, and you’ll shoot right through.

Do you have a literary agent? Do you want one?

This week I'll be writing a synopsis for Hollywood Spank - I'll need it if my editor decides to buy it, because all the contracts have a cover page with the synopsis of the book on it. So I'll write the synopsis in the hopes that I'll be needing it :) I'm also going to get back into Chastity Belt (um, not into an actual chastity belt, just into the manuscript!).

And... I may just start doing some research on which literary agents are looking for erotica.
Wish me luck and good luck to you too!

Release Date: Sept 16th 2010!

Hello Fellow Writers!

I'm happy to announce that I've finished my edits on Punishing the Art Thief for Ellora's Cave and I now have an official release date: September 16th, 2010! Whoo hoo!

I've also created a Twitter account for myself. I know, the last thing I need is *another* social networking site to constantly check, but hey, that's the age we live in. So follow me on Twitter @ShoshannaEvers !

For anyone interested in reading the excerpt from Punishing the Art Thief, click here, and please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Now that I've made my initial revisions for Ginger Snap, my erotic Christmas "Quickie" for EC, I'm now free to make another round of revisions on Hollywood Spank and incorporate the notes my two beta-readers gave me. When I finish those notes I plan on resubmitting it to my editor at EC.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers (I know, I know.)

A Second Book Contract from Ellora's Cave!

Hello Fellow Writers,

Oh boy, I've got big news. I'm so excited I just had to share. Remember how I wrote a kinky Christmas story, hoping to be part of the Ellora's Cave "Merry Kinkmas" anthology they are coming out with this Christmas? Well, I just got word from my editor that my story "Ginger-Figged for Christmas" (tentative title) is not really fetishy or kinky enough for "Merry Kinkmas". Apparently ginger-figging is too common to be considered kinky! LOL

Bummer, right? Nope! She wants me to add a few things and said if I'm willing to do that then she'd like to offer me a contract on it as a stand-alone book.

And as I'm sure you can imagine, I'm willing! My editor has a real knack for knowing how to make a story shine, so her suggestions will come in handy when I start revising (and lengthening) my Christmas story.

The funny thing is, I was planning on spending this week reworking my WIP Hollywood Spank to include the revisions my beta-readers suggested, but now I'm putting Hollywood Spank aside to work on the Christmas story.

I am over-the-moon happy to have sold my second book. I'm kind of in shock that it actually happened :) Wish me luck revising tomorrow, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers