TO LOVE A CAT #Excerpt by Billi Tiner @TinerBooks #Romance #Contemporary

“Let me show you to your room,” Cat said as she stepped back into the kitchen after saying good-bye to Stacy.

Ethan stood and followed her up the stairs and down a short hallway.

“That’s my room,” Cat commented, pointing to a closed door on the right side of the hall. “This is your bathroom,” she added, stopping at the next room. “I stocked it with some supplies; toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, that kind of stuff. Let me know if there’s anything I missed.” Turning to the room across the hall, she said. “And this is your room.” She pushed open the door and stepped back.

Ethan moved past her and stopped a few feet inside the room. His back was to her, so Cat couldn’t see his expression. She hovered at the entrance unsure of what to do next.

The room contained a double bed, nightstand, chest of drawers, desk, and computer. She’d also hung a small flat screen TV on the wall opposite his bed.

After a long moment of silence, she said, “I’ll give you some time to look around. If there’s anything you need, let me know, and we can go pick it up. I’ll be downstairs in the office doing some work. Feel free to come down, whenever you get settled.”

Cat waited a moment for Ethan to respond. Last night, she’d spent several hours picking out the stuff for his room. She’d wanted it to be decorated before he arrived, so he wouldn’t feel like he was a guest. She’d even taken the time to hang a few posters the clerk at the store had assured her a teenage boy would find cool. Cat felt a pang of disappointment when he didn’t make any comment about the room. Giving up, she pulled the door closed and left.Don’t expect too much too soon, she reminded herself.

Several hours later, her stomach growled. Glancing at her watch, she was surprised to see that it was after noon. Ethan still had not made an appearance downstairs. Cat leaned back in the leather office chair and stared out into the empty living room. She’d left it up to him to come down when he was ready. She wasn’t sure if she should go get him for lunch or leave him alone. Sighing, she rose and went to the kitchen to make him a sandwich. Taking a guess, she went with bologna, cheese, and mayonnaise. She added a bag of Doritos and a Coke and carried the food up to his room.

The sound of the TV filtered under the door. She paused to take a deep breath, then knocked. “Ethan,” she called softly. “May I come in?”

“It’s your house,” came the muffled reply.

Cat pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Ethan was sprawled out on the bed, staring at the television. He didn’t bother to look her way.

“I brought lunch,” Cat said. “Bologna and cheese sandwich. I wasn’t sure what you liked. I hope it’s okay.”

Ethan glanced over. He rolled off the bed and walked to her. Taking the food from her hands, he mumbled, “Thanks.” Then he went back to the bed, his attention returning to the movie he was watching.

“Okay, well, I’ll be downstairs if you need anything else,” Cat said as she backed out of the room and closed the door.

I guess I don’t have to worry about him talking my ear off, she thought.

Later that evening, Cat sat bent over her desk working through some figures. She glanced up when she heard the muffled sound of footsteps approaching. She watched Ethan walk across the living room and stop in the doorway.

He leaned against the door jam and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’m hungry.”

Cat looked at her watch. It was after 6:00p.m. “Is there anything in particular you’d like?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“How about pizza?” she suggested.

“Okay.” Another one-word reply.

“What do you want on it?”

“I don’t know,” he answered.

“Well, what do you like? Hamburger? Pepperoni? Cheese?”

She patiently waited for him to answer. Finally, he shrugged and said, “Hamburger, I guess.”

She grinned. “Great, hamburger it is.”

Cat stood and walked toward him. As she drew close, he flinched slightly. She caught the look of wariness that flashed into his eyes. As someone who’d received unsolicited beatings herself, she recognized the automatic response. Her heart constricted with sympathy. Knowing the last thing he would want from her was pity, she didn’t acknowledge that she’d noticed his reaction.

“I’m just going to grab my cell phone,” she said softly.

He nodded and took a step back. Not wanting to make him feel any more uncomfortable, she made sure not to pass by him too closely.

As she placed the call to order the pizza, Ethan returned to his room. When she disconnected the call, Cat sank down onto the sofa. This is going to be tough, she thought. How am I going to build any kind of relationship with him, if he refuses to stay in the same room with me?

Several minutes later, she was jerked out of her thoughts when the doorbell rang. “Pizza’s here!” she called, reaching for her wallet. After paying the delivery man, she turned back into the house to see Ethan standing at the foot of the stairs.

“Let’s eat it in the kitchen,” Cat suggested. She was determined to have a conversation with the boy.

He reluctantly followed her to the kitchen and sank down into one of the chairs at the dining table. Cat placed the pizza box in the middle of the table and went to get them some plates. When she returned, she took the chair directly opposite Ethan.

Within seconds, he’d already eaten his first piece and started on the second.

“I guess you like it,” she commented dryly.

He glanced up. A blush crept into his cheeks. He dropped the piece he held in his hand. “It’s good. I’ve never had it before,” he mumbled.

“You’ve never had pizza?” she asked, dumbfounded.

He shook his head. “Dad didn’t like it, so we never had it.”

Cat was at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe Ethan was a teenager and had never tried pizza. No wonder he didn’t know what kind he wanted. She wondered what else he’d missed out on in his life. She suspected pizza was just the tip of the iceberg.

“Well, I’m glad you like it. We’ll have to try a different flavor next time, maybe something really crazy like Hawaiian.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Canadian bacon and pineapple. It’s delicious.”

They ate the rest of the meal in silence. When they finished, he excused himself and returned to his room. Cat was a little disappointed they didn’t talk more, but at least she’d learned something about him. It was a start.

From the author of “Dogs Aren’t Men” comes “To Love a Cat”, a contemporary romance novel.

Catherine “Cat” James’ life is simple and orderly, and she likes it that way. She loves her job as an accountant. Working with numbers is safe and routine, no surprises. Her childhood had been very abusive and unstable. She vowed not to live that way as an adult. She also made a promise to herself to become a foster parent. She wished someone had been there for her as a teenager, to let her know she wasn’t alone.

Cat agrees to foster Ethan Summers, a troubled teenage boy whose childhood closely resembles her own. Suddenly, her nice and orderly life is filled with chaos and uncertainty. Things really start to spin out of control when circumstances bring police detective Mitch Holt into the picture. He’s handsome, charming, and definitely not what Cat needs right now, or so she thinks.

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Genre – Contemporary Romance

Rating – PG

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Connect with Billi Tiner on Facebook & Twitter

Website www.tinerbooks.blogspot.com

Sandy James on Following Rules @sandyjamesbooks #AmReading #Romance #Contemporary

I have a couple of nicknames at school. Sometimes I’m called the Dress Code Nazi, sometimes the Hall Nazi. In truth, I tend to be both. Why? Because I think rules are important, and I tend to see each and every time a student breaks one.

I hear every single f-bomb. I see every in appropriate skirt. You’ve got a shirt with a double entendre, I’m the one who’s going to catch it. Our students are not allowed to wear hats or have their hoods up. Whenever I walk down the hall, the boys act like Pavlov’s dogs, jerking off their hats or slamming down their hoods the same way those puppies would drool. They know I’ll catch them.

Why do we have rules? To prevent chaos. At least that’s what I tell the students. Funny thing is that where writing is concerned, I never—I repeat never—follow the rules.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am very strict about rules concerning grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Ask any of my critique partners or the entrants I’ve judged in contests, they’ll let you know exactly how strict I am. I’m also very deliberate in my word choices, not wanting to leave the interpretation open to semantics. Where I tend to think the rules have the potential to ruin the book is when there are too many rules about the story itself.

Let me give you an example. Rules of the Game (ironic title, right?) was a book a lot of people told me I would never sell. Why? Because the heroine, Maddie, is a romance writer. The publishing rules supposedly say that no editor wants to buy a book where the protagonist is an author.

Really? Why the heck not? So I broke that rule. I asked an editor I know from Twitter whether a story about an author was dead before it was even born. She told me absolutely not, and she asked to see it. Then she bought it. I’m very proud to say that Rules of the Game won the HOLT Medallion for best novel with strong romantic elements.

Another example is the supposed rules that no readers want to buy books with older heroines. Says who? So I broke that rule, too. Several times, as a matter of fact. Women over thirty still fall in love and still need romance in their lives. I’m not about to let some silly “rule” deprive them of books with older heroines, nor am I going deny myself the fun of writing them. Turning Thirty-Twelve has Jackie, whose forty-second birthday celebration opens the story. Grace in Saving Grace is thirty-nine. To heck with that “rule”!

Despite what my school nicknames imply, I’m actually a rule breaker in the first degree. All I ask is that you never tell my students.

For the fans of Jennifer Probst, Ruth Cardello and Jill Shalvis, comes a series about love, friendship, and lunch!

When life gets tough and love is hard to find, four friends take their troubles to lunch. High school teacher Juliana Kelley tells the Ladies Who Lunch that her life needs an overhaul . . . and gets a whole lot more than she wished for.

Juliana has spent thirteen years in the same teaching job. She’s ready to dive into a new career with both feet . . . when a run-in with the hottest man she’s ever seen knocks her head over heels. But with her failed marriage to a fellow teacher fresh on her mind, Jules can’t afford to lose herself in a relationship-no matter how perfect it may seem.

Connor Wilson has hit rock bottom when he loses his career as a top-notch Realtor because of a large gambling debt. Now, in a small town he finds a fresh start-and a gorgeous redhead who sparks new life into him. Together they start a successful real estate company, but when pleasure sneaks into the business, they’ll have to decide what they can let go . . . and what they can’t live without.

Word count: 75,000-85,000

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Genre - Contemporary Romance

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with Sandy James through Facebook & Twitter

Deborah Hawkins & Ellen Scott, housekeeper at Burnham Abbey @DeborahHawk3 #Romance

Our guest post for today comes from author Deborah Hawkins, author of Dance for A Dead Princess, who is interviewing Ellen Scott, housekeeper at Burnham Abbey and close friend of Nicholas Carey, the Eighteenth Duke of Burnham.

Deborah: “Thank you for stepping out of the pages of Dance For A Dead Princess to talk to us.   What is it like to be a modern-day housekeeper at an English stately home that dates back to Henry VIII’s time?”

Ellen:  “Well, obviously I love my job.  I oversee the household staff and ensure  the kitchen is running properly.  Above all, I’m responsible for the happiness of our resident chef.  Nicholas insists on having a top-rated chef at all times, and he takes it very hard when one of them leaves.   Since Downtown Abbey became popular,  people I meet are a lot more interested in what I do than they used to be.  They think I am like Mrs. Hughes, but our staff at the Abbey is much, much smaller than the staff at Downtown.”

Deborah: “Does the new attention make you uncomfortable?”

Ellen: “Not at all. The attention isn’t new really.  My job has always kept me in the spotlight because of my connection to Nicholas.   He is the second richest man in England.  The press hounds are  always pursing me for gossip about the women in his life.  Of course, I tell them nothing.”

Deborah: “How did you come to be the housekeeper at Burnham Abbey?”

Ellen: “I grew up on the estate. My father was a tenant on one of the Burnham Trust farms. I went to university to be a teacher, and I taught for a while at the school in the village after I got married. My husband Pete also grew up on one of the estate farms.  He oversees all the Trust’s agricultural holdings now.

“I agreed to be Nicholas’ housekeeper after Nicholas inherited the title and wanted to live at the Abbey and take care of the land in the traditional way of the old dukes.  He was going through a bad patch in his marriage to Deborah just then, and I couldn’t say no. The job stuck, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Deborah: “Is it true Nicholas became close to Princess Diana because of his wife?”

Ellen: “Yes.  Deborah and Diana were great friends at West Heath when they were girls.   Nicholas loved Deborah beyond anything I’ve ever seen, and he turned to Diana for advice when his marriage was in trouble.  And she, likewise, sought his advice over the whole Charles-Camilla thing.”

Deborah: “Did you ever meet the Princess of Wales?”

Ellen:  “Oh, yes.  Many times.  She was a lovely, lovely warm woman.  I still cry at times when I think about her being gone.  I’m always half-expecting to hear her car in the drive and her voice calling out for Nicholas.  He always took her part in everything.  There were so many men in her life who should have loved her, but who didn’t. More fool them.   She was just the most beautiful, thoughtful woman in the world. And she loved her boys.”

Deborah: “What did you think of Taylor Collins when you met her?”

Ellen: “She didn’t look like a lawyer.  She was this tiny little thing with dark curly hair and deep violet eyes.  But there was something about her that set her apart from the other women Nicholas brings around.  She had this fierce, determined attitude that made her seem a little off-putting at first.  But I saw the way Nicholas looked at her, and I was so afraid he was going to get his heart broken again.  Losing Deborah was a blow he refused to get over, and now I thought he was headed for another heartache. Taylor Collins was the only woman in the world who hadn’t any interest in being the Duchess of Burnham.”

Deborah: “Did you know Nicholas was looking for the video tape that Diana made, naming her killer?”

Ellen: “Oh, yes.  He was discouraged for so many years because he had no information about what happened to it.  I begged him to let it go because looking for it put his life in danger.  But he wouldn’t listen.  After Deborah died, I think he had a death wish.  That is, until he met, Taylor.”

Deborah:   “I understand you knew Nicholas’ ward Lucy very well?”

Ellen:   “I don’t think any of us knew Lucy well.  Sixteen-year-olds are unpredictable, and Lucy was particularly hard to understand.  I just know she broke Nicholas’ heart too many times to count.  He blamed himself for her, and I didn’t think that was right.  Drug addiction tears a family apart.”

Deborah: “I understand Taylor Collins found a manuscript in the Abbey library that Thomas Carey, the first duke wrote, about the love of his life, Elizabeth Howell.  Have you read it?”

Ellen:  “I have.  Nicholas always insisted the family was founded on the murder of Thomas’ first wife to clear the way for him to marry Elizabeth, the heiress.  Taylor, who had read the manuscript, said that wasn’t true; and I wanted to know how the Careys came to be one of England’s most powerful and wealthy families.”

Deborah: “And did you find out?”

Ellen: “Indeed, I did.  Thomas’ contemporaneous portrait of Henry VIII is fascinating.  You feel as if you’re standing right there in front of him with Thomas.  But I haven’t time  to tell you that story now.  We’re serving tea in the Long Gallery in a half hour to a group of American tourists. Tourists are a substantial part of the Abbey’s income, and they spend a lot of money with the villagers in Burnham during their summer visits,  so Nicholas insists we make them feel fully welcome to show our gratitude.   But I would love to have you join us for tea.”

Deborah: “Thank you.  I would be delighted.”

In January 1997, Princess Diana received a phone call telling her she would be assassinated. She recorded the information on a secret video tape, naming her killer and gave it to a trusted friend in America for safekeeping. It has never been found.

Diana’s close friend, Nicholas Carey, the 18th Duke of Burnham and second richest man in England, has vowed to find the tape and expose her killer. After years of searching, he discovers Diana gave the tape to British socialite Mari Cuniff, who died in New York under mysterious circumstances. He believes Wall Street attorney Taylor Collins, the executor of Mari’s estate, has possession of it. He lures Taylor to England by promising to sell his ancestral home in Kent, Burnham Abbey, to one of her clients, a boarding school for American girls. Nicholas has dated actresses and models since the death of his wife, ten years earlier, and has no interest in falling in love again. But he is immediately and unexpectedly overwhelmed with feelings for Taylor at their first meeting.

Taylor, unaware that Diana’s tape is in her long-time friend and client’s estate and nursing her hurt over her broken engagement to a fellow attorney in her firm, brands Nicholas supremely spoiled and selfish. She is in a hurry to finish the sale of the Abbey and return to New York. But while working in the Abbey’s library, Taylor uncovers the diary of Thomas Carey, a knight at the court of Henry VIII and the first Duke of Burnham.

As she reads Thomas’ agonizing struggle to save the love of his life and the mother of his child from being forced to become Henry’s mistress, she begins to see Nicholas in a new light as he battles to save his sixteen-year-old ward Lucy, who is desperately unhappy and addicted to cocaine. But just as Taylor’s feelings for Nicholas become clear and at the moment she realizes she is in possession of Diana’s voice from the grave, she learns that Nicholas may be Lucy’s father and responsible for his wife’s death at the Abbey at the time of Lucy’s birth. When Nicholas is arrested for Lucy’s murder and taken to Wandsworth Prison, Taylor sets out to learn the truth about Nicholas, his late wife, and the death of the Princess of Wales.

Dance for A Dead Princess is a the story of two great loves that created and preserved a family that has lasted for five hundred years.

Finalist in Romance Category for Forward Reviews 2013 Book of the Year Award

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Genre – Contemporary Romance,Mystery

Rating – G

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Connect with Deborah Hawkins on Facebook 

Website http://deborahlhawkins.com/

The Forgotten Child #Excerpt by Lorhainne Eckhart @LEckhart

“Please sit down, Emily.” He extended out the flat of his hand, very much in control.

“Ah, thank you.” She perched on the edge of the soft leather seat across from a man who was too damn good to look at—a man obviously comfortable in his own skin.

Hardness set his jaw as he studied her. The tick of the wall clock seemed to echo in the silence, and Emily squirmed in her seat. Why was he looking at her like that? Maybe it was her outrageous entrance and he was wondering what kind of kook she was, whether he could entrust her with his child. Yes, that had to be it.

She swallowed hard. “I’m Emily Nelson; I talked to you yesterday on the phone about the job.”
He blinked before closing those exquisite eyes, as if he’d forgotten the reason she was here. When he opened them again, his hard judgmental expression seemed to have softened a bit.

Again he extended his large hand, taking hers in a firm grip. Just the touch of his solid calloused hand and the secure squeeze was enough to teeter her nerves back to that awkward woman at the door. She wondered what it would be like to have a man like this run his hands over you. She snatched her hand back before her face burned any brighter. Finally, he introduced himself. “The name’s Brad Friessen.”

Emily kept quiet. He didn’t run on with his words. He must be a deep thinker, a doer. She could relate to that… but not to him. Her sly eyes glanced down at his left hand: no gold band, no white line, no wife or significant other. Or maybe he was one of those arrogant guys who wouldn’t wear a ring, a lady’s man. He had the looks and the attitude. Now was the time to ask about the woman who answered the phone when she called. Who was she?

“This is a working ranch I run, and I need a woman to look after my son. I’m old fashioned in my values. Children should be at home, not stuck in daycare. I’m looking for someone who’s comfortable in a kitchen and looking after children: a role that should come natural to a woman. I don’t want someone who’s got the phone stuck to their ear half the day. It’s a decent job and good pay; $500 a week, room and board, and includes all your meals.”

Her heart sank about the same time the bottom dropped out of her stomach. It was too good to be true. She wanted to cry. “But I… I have a little girl, I didn’t realize–”

His face hardened and he looked away. For some reason he was angry with her… no, furious. Emily didn’t know what to say when he let out a heavy sigh. He closed his eyes, rubbing his hand over the light brown shadow that appeared over his jaw. Then he faced her again, with those deep brown eyes now turned to steel. Emily saw that he could be a hard man.

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Genre – Contemporary Western Romance

Rating – PG

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Sunspots #Excerpt by Karen Bell @KarenSueBell #AmReading #Contemporary #Romance

I took a bath. I needed to cleanse myself psychically as well as physically. As I washed, I thought about what Owen said concerning Viola Parker. Thinking of Owen nauseated me and made me feel quite guilty so I switched my concentration to Viola Parker…my ethereal intruder. Funny he should say what he did—like he knew her or of her. I couldn’t figure the connection because she was quite old and, as far as I could discern then, not related in anyway to Jake’s family. Her name had never come up in any conversations, or her existence. So I wondered why Owen thought it odd that I bought her house after she died. But I was sure, Viola Parker herself would reveal her past to me because…she never really left here, never gave up claim to this place.

Shockingly, startlingly, Viola just started showing up, rocking away in that old chair and grinning at me like the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. She rocked and rocked in that damned chair or Chair of the Damned, as I like to call it. And I was not happy about it. My aversion to Viola’s corporal presence and ethereal spirit might seem odd given my desire to make contact with Jake but I knew nothing about her. She could have been a crazy person in life and be a slasher-type in death like Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy. So, naturally, I was cautious. At first, I thought I was hallucinating. I had placed the chair in the living room right near the fireplace. It looked smart there. It was not a fancy rocker, just plain wood with a worn seat cushion but it had character like an antique. Could have been from JC Penny for all I knew about antiques but it had the look. I never sat in it because that worn seat suggested its heavy use by a now dead Viola Parker and that was creepy. I decided I would sit in the chair when I got a new cushion, but I was too busy studying and being a mentally disturbed hermit to refurbish anything.

The encounters began one night after dark (naturally), exactly one week after my mother left. The chair started rocking by itself. I was walking in the hallway and threw a glance into the living room. The chair had rocked. There was movement. I stopped to catch another look. The chair was still. I looked away and then sensed a one-two rock. I was intrigued and freaked out so I went over to the now stationary chair and felt around for a shot of air or any other logical disturbance. I manually rocked the chair but there was no explanation. I decided that sleep deprivation had distorted my accurate assessment of rocking versus not rocking so I went to bed to get some much-needed rest.

The next night the same thing—edge of vision rocking—straight on looking no rocking. This went on for five nights and I decided to throw out the chair. I took it out to the street for pick up and watched the truck drive away with the chair in its bowels. But my intuition or premonition did not give me a peaceful feeling as I watched the truck drive out of sight. With dread, I walked back into my house and sure enough, there was the chair.

Sunspots is personal. A personal journey of grieving, a personal journey of self-discovery, and a personal journey geographically. A young woman from Brooklyn, Aurora, a man from Austin, Texas, Jake, meet accidentally in NYC and it changes the trajectory of their lives. Aurora decides to grab on to what she perceives may be her only chance at the comfy married existence that has so far eluded her. But it is no hardship to leave NYC and her stalled acting career for this apparently wealthy, dynamic, handsome lover who whisks her off her feet. But after the honeymoon, reality sets in and she realizes that marriage can be isolating, and that the socio-economic differences between her and Jake can become a wedge. How can Aurora adjust to these changes? How can she regain the independent personality she had before Jake became her only focus in life?

Fast forward two years, and Aurora finds herself a widow. An accident. Unexpected. And then her journey becomes one of accepting the harsh reality of encounters with Jake's ghost, the real nature of her time travel experiences, and Jake's true character. Viola Parker is her guide through these episodes not of this world. Viola, a ghost who has a connection with Aurora's past, leads her to find, Cliff, her true soulmate, her true love in this life erasing the pain of her mistakes with Jake Stein through the centuries. Sometimes from the ashes, sometimes from blackness awaits the brilliant light of a life of happiness.

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Genre – Contemporary romance, Magical Realism

Rating – PG-13

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Christina George's Eight Tips to Make Your Next Writers Conference Awesome! #WriteTip #Romance

Eight Tips to Make Your Next Writers Conference Awesome!

I love going to writers conferences, and it’s really awesome when I’m speaking there as well. But as wonderful as the networking is, if you don’t show up with a plan or a set of action items for the conference, you can get sucked up into the vibe of the event without being very productive. Here are some tips to help you maximize your event!

Goals: Before you go to a writers conference, be clear on your goals. If it’s just networking that’s great, but if you want to get more than networking out of the event, make sure you establish your specific objectives in advance.

Start networking before the event starts: Now that you’ve gone through the conference website, it’s time to identify the folks you’d like to get to know better and start your networking early. Send them an email and tell them you are looking forward to seeing them at the event, or hearing them speak. Follow them on Twitter and begin to network with them there. Early networking is a great way to get in front of agents and publishers you might not otherwise have access to.

Make appointments early: The conference website should be your new best friend. Comb through it to find names of publishers and agents who are going to be there. Most conferences will offer you publisher or agent appointments so you can present your work, but if you want to coordinate a meeting with someone for any other reason check the website to find out who will be there and see if you can get on their calendar. I have showed up at conferences hoping to make appointments there and found that they’re not only difficult to schedule, but often confusing as well. Once you hit the conference floor the momentum of the event takes over, and any appointments that haven’t been confirmed prior to the event generally won’t happen.

Take business cards: Make sure you bring a lot of business cards, running out at an event is never good.

Stay organized: I will generally bring some letter-sized envelopes with me to the event and then file cards by session or event so I can keep track of where I collected them. For example, let’s say I went to a big awards dinner and did some networking. If I file all of these in the “Awards dinner” envelope, I can add a personal element to the follow-up email like, “It was nice to meet you at the awards dinner, wasn’t Marci’s acceptance speech great?”

Easy follow-up: Ok, so you’ve had a great meeting with a publisher and they want to see a chapter of your book. Great! Now what? Take their card, flip it over and jot down a few important notes on the back such as: follow-up steps, short meeting details (“met for lunch”), and anything else you can fit onto the card such as any personal details they shared - like having a daughter who went to the same school as your kids or something like that.

Never eat alone: There’s a great networking book by the same name (Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, Crown Books) and the statement is true. At a writers conference be sure to grab a table packed with people and even better, don’t sit with the same folks over and over again. Mix it up and meet new people!

Action items: At the end of each conference day, I find it helpful to gather my notes and go through and highlight the important items from the day. I have often waited until I’m on the plane back home, or worse, the Monday following the conference and I generally can’t make heads or tails out of who I am supposed to follow up with at that point. Lesson: do it early while the information is still fresh.

And finally, our bonus tip:

Plan B: If you can’t afford to attend the writers conference that’s in your town here’s an idea for you. When a big conference rolls into town, an author friend of mine will sometimes hang out in the downstairs coffee shop or restaurant at the hotel where the event is being held and network with people there. You never know who you might meet…

Conference follow-up: This is a biggie. Make sure you always follow up with everyone you connected with, especially if you committed to them that you would send them more information, sample chapters, whatever.

Keep the networking going: Relationships take time. Don’t expect miracles when you land at a writers conference. Sometimes great stuff will happen right away, and other times it’s a process. Don’t let the networking end when the function is over. You’re now networking with them online via Twitter and Facebook, and perhaps you have some follow-up to do. Keep on their radar screen and then be on the lookout for future events you can attend!

Writers conferences are a great way to get out there and network, meet your peers and meet agents, publishers, and marketing professionals who can help you publish or market your book.

Publishing: An industry of out-of-control of egos, unrealistic expectations, and books with the shelf life of milk. This is Kate’s world, but for how long? When one of Kate Mitchell’s star authors is carted away in handcuffs, she thinks it’s only the beginning of her troubles. As her world crumbles around her, Kate desperately looks for anyone to hold onto but finds that happy endings are truly works of fiction. When her career and love affair hit their expiration date, Kate sets off on a new adventure….

Starting over in California is easy, but Kate soon learns that leaving her old life behind isn’t. Nicholas Lavigne is eager to help her forget, but two things still own her heart, the dream of discovering the next great American novel, and MacDermott Ellis. As Kate tries to rebuild her life she finds a surprising gift that reboots her career in a new and unexpected direction. 

Suddenly her name becomes synonymous with one of the biggest bestsellers publishing has seen in ages and she's welcomed back with open arms. At the height of her success the ghosts of her past come back to remind her of the world she'd been trying to forget and the man who never let go of her heart. Behind the book, there’s always more to the story. Welcome to Publishing, the ego has landed.

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Genre – Contemporary Romance

Rating – R

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Connect with Christina George on Facebook & Twitter

#Author D.P. Denman's #WriteTip for Writing Under Deadlines @dpdenman #AmWriting #LGBT

How to Handle Pressure: Writing Under Deadlines

I have a confession. I have a nasty habit of procrastinating when it comes to things I don’t want to do. I'm not the type to dive in and get them out of the way. I like to whine about it for a while first. That attitude definitely applies when the task in question is intimidating.

I recently completed my Bachelor's degree after a long hiatus from school. Because of my work schedule going to class on a traditional campus wasn't an option so I did the whole thing online. For those of you unfamiliar with online degrees they require an incredible amount of writing. I had a paper due once a week every week for three years. That's a lot of writing (and research) about things in which I didn't have any particular interest. As you can imagine that left ample opportunity for procrastination. I saw classmate after classmate fall prey to that same temptation completing their section of group projects at eleven o'clock at night on the night it was due. I also saw a lot of them fail out of the program because they couldn't overcome the habit.

During those three years I learned how to short circuit procrastination out of sheer necessity, especially when it comes to intimidating projects. I stopped looking at the projects in their entirety and broke them into pieces instead. Researching and writing a fifteen-page paper that covered assigned aspects of a dreadfully boring topic is enough to make anyone want to hide under the covers.  Instead, I gave myself daily assignments. Each day I researched a different aspect of the topic. The last two days before the paper was due I gathered my research and wrote in chunks, focusing on one aspect at a time and taking breaks to goof off in between. It worked much better than waiting until the day before the paper was due and spending twelve hours chained to my computer hating every minute of it.

Some people thrive on stress and prefer to wait until the last minute. I tried that for a while until I got tired of having to devote every weekend to finishing papers that were due Monday morning. Tackling one piece at a time got the job done without all the stress and without me having to sacrifice all my free time to do it.

Working all the time leads to burnout. Playing all the time leads to failure. The key is finding the balance somewhere in between.

Simon Leander is living a lie. He hides the truth from his partner in a relationship he's determined to tolerate…jealousy, rants and all. Michael was supposed to be the love of his life and he's not ready to let go of that dream even though the romantic has turned tyrant.

When Drew appears, Simon's determination begins to waver. Drew is everything Michael used to be but isn't anymore. Drew also knows his secret. When the truth he works so hard to hide bursts from the shadows he must decide whether he can trust Drew and if love deserves a second chance.

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Genre -  MM Contemporary Romance

Rating – R

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