Fairytale Flames, the latest addition to my Fairytale Erotica is now available on Amazon.com! It features Hansel and Gretel (no relation), The Little Mermaid, and Puss in Boots. Check it out!
I will also have an Anthology of all the Fairytale Erotica books (Fantasies, Fetishes and Flames) in a paperback version which will be available soon. It also includes a bonus story: Alice in Wonderland.
Okay, so I have basically been MIA the last few weeks…but, I have been writing like the devil. After the Fairytale has turned into such a cute book even if it is a bit tamer than the others I’ve written. It is a full length novel, 150+ pages and feels more like a classic historical romance. I love it and I can’t wait for the revisions to be complete before I put it on Amazon!!
Hello again. It has only been a few hours but I had to share this. I recently viewed my books on the Amazon.co.uk site (accidentally) and came across a few reviews that were quite mean. Both books were reviewed by the same person and I wanted to ask if the first was so bad, why purchase a second? I will post the reviews (or portions of them, below):
OK, so the blurb tells you that the female lead has done a flit from Hell, in search of fun and adventure on earth; it turns out that she’s the child of an infamous father – any idea who daddy might be? Then, despite aiming for Las Vegas, she ends up in Alaska. So, that too should have provided some laughs, right?
NOT. This was nothing but about her getting her rocks off with anyone who happened to cross her path, male or female. Not hot, not sexy, not any semblance of a tale – at least not in my book. A total waste of time.
Now…it is also interesting that her review is not an Amazon verified purchase, nor does she use the right city; Helena was going to LA not Las Vegas, but it’s not the point. The point is that it seems some competing authors are deliberately sabotaging books by Indie writers!! All I can do is wait. She seems to be under the impression that the books were romance. They were penned as erotica (not erotic romance) and marketed as erotica. I have no idea what this woman wants, but its obviously not any more of my books.
This is an antho of 4 short tales from the same author. From the book blurb and from the cover (yes, I know, my bad to judge a book by its cover), I thought I would be getting some naughty/erotic fairy tales. Instead, I got a few sex scenes, which is not my cup of tea.
In the first tale, Bella picks up a guy in a bar, telling him she doesn’t care if he’s straight or gay, married, single or otherwise, she wants to ‘do him’ (putting it more politely, in order that amazon doesn’t chuck out this review) and he has a minute to follow her to the bathroom or she’s leaving. Left me cold, though the sex was hot and inventive in so small a space.
The second is allegedly based on Rapunzel and features an Arabic female home alone, whilst her parents have gone off to finalise her arranged marriage to Hassan. She hears an intruder, and ends up being ravished by him. I kind of feel as if I should applaud the author, as she was bold with her Muslim characters and pre-marital sex, even if it were of the tamer variety. I suppose she’s lucky not to be mainstream and end up with a Fatwa on her head!
The next is based on Little Red Riding Hood, starting off with Red having to go to her own party at her parents. She’s just had oral sex with her neighbour from across the landing, as her mum arrives uninvited, so she hides him on her balcony, but when mummy leaves and she goes to find him, she finds him getting oral sex from their male neighbour…so, off she goes a la ‘one day my prince will come’ to said party…through the woods…where she meets a swinger couple, and forgets all about the party.
Yes, full of sex, but of the cold, hard, emotionless variety.
I was surprised at the mention of a Fatwa. Really? I wanted to thank her for pointing that out. Way to go to subtly threaten me. Thanks. Apparently “Rough” left her cold, but the sex was hot? Okay. Once again, penned as Erotica and not Romance, not even Erotic Romance. I think people need to understand the difference. It is not about the people getting together, it is about the sex.
And in the event I do get a Fatwa on my head, I changed the characters’ ethnicity in “Isolated”. I suppose that any review is a good review, but I would like my reviewers to get their facts straight. Perhaps, when reading too many free stories, one tends to mix up events or when one makes up a story, it can get twisted. Regardless, it did hurt my feelings a bit, but writing this post has acted like a balm.
Keep an eye out for Fairytale Flames (Fairytale Erotica 3)
Never had an issue with the formatting of my e-books, then the 50-page novella I recently uploaded was plagued with problems. I was beside myself with anger and anxiety. So, I did what any sane, reasonable adult would do; I threw a temper tantrum and then I tried (for hours) to fix the formatting. FINALLY got it done. New formats for Hell in Heels, Some Like it Hot, Tala, Fairytale Fantasies, and Fairytale Fetishes will be available in less than 12 hours.
If you purchased any of the above-mentioned books and the formatting is crazy, i.e. no indents, etc, simply archive it on your reading device and then download the book again. You should have the correct format this time around. Good luck and happy reading. I have to go and jump my husbands bones now…working on the third Fairytale erotica book!
http://bluemoontrilogy.blogspot.com/
Somehow I got off track with my writing. March was supposed to be a one book month, but I am thinking I have to knock out a book and a half, edit the second book in the Blue Moon Trilogy and somehow work on my dissertation for my doctorate degree…while balancing a full time job as a teacher…yup…I do this for the love!
So, just uploaded the novella I was working on called Mercy Me. It is loosely based on a Kindle Direct Publishing forum conversation in which one author accused another of writing her own reviews (and convincing her friends to do the same). This novella is not urban fantasy or erotica and is a welcome break from the writing style I most frequently use. In fact, in the 10,000 word novella, there is no sex! But the story is cute! Take a look. Like it even. BUY IT!! Lol.
So, book three in the “Fairytale” series is complete. Dear God, this one is good!! Features Hansel and Gretel, they are not kids and not related; The Little Mermaid and Puss in Boots. Pretty hot…had to take more than a sip of water. I think my language is a bit more…coarse in this book and there seems to be an underlying theme. You’ll find out this weekend. I am still battling my flu, so I am a bit under the weather, but I hope to be in fighting form my this weekend.
Being ADHD is not good when you are a writer. So, I was on the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) website and there was a lovely threeway discussion between a female writer and two others. It was not the good kind of threeway, it was an argument that was getting kinda out of control. But it sparked an idea in my head for a novella. It is totally a rip off of the conversation that was taking place with a bit of my imagination thrown in. Here is the premise:
Marci Mann has dreamed of being a writer since she was a child. Now, divorced with a child of her own; she fulfills her dream and self-publishes her first book under the pen name of Mercy Me. Within months, her book shoots up the charts and Marci turns to the online support forum for more ideas. That’s where she meets Leo Anderson. Leo is brash and bold in his reviews and wastes no time in telling everyone that he believes Marci is faking her five star reviews. She hates him almost immediately. But when she reads his other reviews on other sites, she sees a whole new side to the man that is making her life miserable.
Leo Anderson hates self-published authors. Well, the ones that upload crap books to be bought and read by unsuspecting consumers. He knows that “Mercy Me” is one of those writers who can’t even be bothered to choose a real pen name. He also knows that she is bilking consumers out of their hard earned cash by padding her reviews. Her book is okay, but should not be near where it is in terms of sales. He also admires her spunk and her attitude. So when she announces that she will be attending a book signing in his hometown, the least he can do is put in an appearance.
I even included a cover. It is still a work in progress and I think it will be about 10,000 words. So far, I have it about 3,500 words done. It should be available for sale this weekend. Cover subject to change.
I was browsing through the Kindle free and 0.99 cents books (because I am balling on a teacher budget) and came across a book that I thought was intriguing. When I read the reviews, it was interesting to note that most gave the author 4 and 5 stars, but two customers gave the author 1 and 2 stars respectively. I read the reviews and the following is the reviewer that gave one star:
“If this were a physical book, it would be 90-100 pages. While the story and writing are decent enough for 2 or 3 stars, I am compelled to give this book 1 because of the length and price.”
The reason it got to me was because in the title description, the author mentions that the book is about 60,000 words. I am not certain when 60,000 words became a 90-page book. What I have learned as a writer (and from writing manuals) is that each book averages about 250-350 words per page. So lets average that and say each book page is about 300 words. Well (and my math is very rusty), if you divide 60,000 by 300, you get a 200-page book. How is that too short for the $2.99 price? Traditional paperbacks in stores (especially romance) are about 150 to 200 page books. Are we spoiled by the Stephanie Meyer of the world that give us 1000 page books? Yes, it makes for a great read, but if you are not a reader, you would look at that monstrosity and pass it by.
As a self-published writer, I try very hard to give my customers a book worth every penny. Most of my books that are over 0.99 cents are 45,000 words or longer. My fairytales series are more expensive than the others, but I figure that the stories are worth it (they are my best-selling items) and are comparable to what customers are buying from other authors, including those traditionally published. And if I have to get up every few minutes into the writing to get a sip of water, or to jump my husband’s bones, then the price is well worth it.
The first time I picked up a pen and put it to paper, I was convinced I was to be a famous poet. I joined the literary magazine in college, I attended (and participated) in poetry slams, I became Bohemian for a while. Then I evolved, realizing that although I loved poetry, I could not read my poems the way they were meant to be read in public. So I went back to the drawing board and became a Romance Writer. I was in love with Nora Roberts. I wanted to BE Nora Roberts. I knew that publishers would be throwing themselves at my door to publish my novels. So I wrote one; a 90,000 word behemoth, full of my joys, sorrows and angst.
Then the first letter came. “I am sorry but…blah, blah, blah.” I was crushed. Surely, they hadn’t read the WHOLE thing. If they had, they would not have rejected me. Even my mom (who is actually quite the cynic) had read it and said it was a great story. Then more letters came, and still more, and I crawled into my bedroom to lick my writing wounds. I gave up on writing. I would read voraciously; moaning when I came across a book that was published by a traditional publisher, even though the story was weak and filled with errors. I made fun of book characters. What black hero has green eyes? What country heroine didn’t like horses…or cowboys…or meat? Who would respond to a crisis in that way?
I finally came across a story that prompted me to start writing again. By the end of the book, one of the characters had a name change. What?!? A supporting character’s name had changed. I reread the entire book and sure enough, the hero’s sister’s name had been swapped. Now, we writers do this all the time. You start with a name and realize that the name wasn’t working for you. In Fairytale Fantasies, I wasn’t sure if I wanted Cinderella’s name (Shoe) to be Cindi or Ella. I eventually choose Cindi. Yes, we change names, but we check the changes and a published book should not have such a glaring mistake.
I picked up my computer and started to write. I wanted to be J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer. I wrote Layla in three months. I wrote Tala in one. I made half-hearted attempts at sending them to traditional publishers and then heard about Amanda Hocking and decided to self-publish. I wanted to do things my way. But there was something very un-young adult, un-paranormal romance about my books. I had never even heard of urban fantasy, until one reviewer mentioned it. I liked it. Then the other books followed. These were still in the realm of urban fantasy, but the sex scenes were much more imagined (my husband still turns red when he reads my reviews). This was my evolution into erotica.
So when someone asks what kind of books I write, I smile and say the entertaining type, then refer them to my website. I am a writer of Urban Fantasy, Erotica and Romance. With a bit of Poetry. My sorority sisters in college got it right when they nicknamed me, “Eclectic.” And I liked it.
Perhaps in time, I will be another self-published success story. You know, the “everyone-loved-her-book-so-much-she-got-a-book-deal.” Perhaps I won’t. It doesn’t matter. I will still do what I love. Write.
Vampires, Werewolves and Demons. Oh My! 