Lots of Love and Thanks

I get asked all the time how I got published.  And if you've followed my blog tour for Forever than you know how I got "The Call" or in my case the "The E-mail" telling me I'd be a published author.  But how did it happen? What were the steps that took place to get me from thinking about writing a book to writing one to publishing Her Wolf to most recently publishing Forever?

I get asked about this a lot.  Whether its a unpublished writer trying to sell her first book who is friends with a friend of mine and so I meet her for coffee at the local gym (yes, the gym had a cafe and she was so super nice. I'm so glad to have met her) or when I'm out to dinner with some really nice friends who have just never heard the story before.  Its asked enough that I thought perhaps I would share it here with all of you.

I've had kind of an interesting, not to be but to others it seems to be, background.  After college I went to law school.  Met my husband, loved New Orleans, made some great friends. And dropped out of law school after two years. I just wasn't feeling that it was the right career for me.  Waiting for my husband to graduate, I taught school and planned a wedding. Thats right. At this point he's still my fiance.

We got married. Moved away to the cold North (Well, cold for my southern born and raised husband). We hadn't had kids yet so I sold real estate. I was good at it and the fact that the real estate bubble hadn't burst yet helped as well.  I got pregnant.  And 9 months later had our first child.

For two years I just LOVED being a stay at home mom with him.  I got pregnant with my second child.  And suddenly I felt less that satisfied with being home.  I wanted something else. Poor timing right? I am, after all, pregnant with baby #2.  Anything I start I'm going to have to stop, right?

I started reading incessantly.  I'd been an English/Communication double major in college. I can read. A lot. And fast.  Somewhere in that reading binge I found Paranormal Romance. I'd always loved romance but never read any real Paranormal version. Suspense. Contemporary.  Historical. Never Paranormal.  I could NOT get enough of it.

My husband could not believe the Amazon bills or the space my paper back collection took up in the house. He suggested I should try to write one.  With nothing to lose, I did.  And I wrote a book called Love Beyond Time knowing NOTHING about publishing at all.  I sent my book out and it got rejected everywhere, as it should have.  Boy, did that book need some help. At that time.

I joined an Online critique group.  Got LBT torn up a bit and sat down to write something else.  Sometimes when something is so bad it has to be rewritten its better to stop and do something else for a bit.  That something else turned out to be Her Wolf and nine books later its my bestselling series.

I submitted it for publication. At 50,000 words it was too short for most agents and most traditional print publishers to look at. They wanted at the time 75,000-80,000 words.  But that book felt finished at 50 k.  And the AMAZING news was that Liquid Silver Books took it! (You'e read that story.  Disney World.  Screaming in the lobby.)

But then the questions started. "Rebecca, what does that mean? This book won't ever be in print? How will we read it? On our computers?"  (And to give my parents credit, they bought my book, took it to the local office place and printed it up! They read my first couple of books that way.)

Something else really amazing happened really at that time.  Kindle BOOMED and with it the digital revolution that changed everything.  No one cared that they couldn't get Her Wolf in print.  (You can now) They got it in Digital form on their Kindles and eventually Nooks. And Now IPADs. Digital format made my career.  I am so thrilled with it.

What's happened since then? Well, I reworked Love Beyond Time? Its also a series.

I had my second and then third children.

And an amazing number of opportunities later I just published Forever.  I'e been grateful for every chance I've been given and what an amazing ride this has been.  I can't wait to keep going.
Lots of Love and Thanks
Rebecca

Short Stories

Once upon a time, writers wrote about one book a year. Maybe.  And it was considered an acceptable amount to produce. These days? Well you all know about that. You don't need to hear me talk about it. Its not like anyone is pressuring me. I actually love love love to write all the time.

Why is that? Well, because in between novels I love to do short stories.  The beauty of ebooks is that as authors we actually can do them.  We don't have to produce full length novels all the time.  And there is an entire readership out there who wants to read short stories!

That's great because I love to write them.

Have you read any short stories I've written? Which one did you like best?

New Cover!!

Just wanted to share!

GIVEAWAY: Taking Over Me by Sara Brookes

So excited to have Sara Brookes here today.  Take it over (he-he) Sara! 

Yippee—it’s release time for Taking Over Me, the first book of my Geek Kink series! To help me celebrate, some fantastic friends of mine are gracious enough to give me a hand (A list of them can be found over on my site here: http://www.sarabrookes.net/2013/03/20/new-release-taking-over-me-a-special-contest) So here’s the blurb and a little snippet (there are four different snippets around the blitz). Be sure to stick around, there’s a giveaway at the end.

Blurb:

He’s everything she didn’t know she needed…

Allison would rather fix computers than worry about sex. That is, until the newest barista in town changes everything. All it takes is one hot stare with his sinful baby blues to remind her she’s not just one of the guys. She has lusty needs only he can fulfill.

Patrick’s coffee shop is on the verge of an epic failure, until Allison takes charge of his computer system. He may not know anything about motherboards, but he does know how to take control—in and out of bed. Now Patrick is determined to get what he wants—Allison in his cuffs. His sensual mastery awakens an intense passion and under his command, he’ll unlock the geek girl’s darkest desires.

Warning: Collars. Cuffs. Clamps. Coffee.

You may never look at your local barista the same way again.

Excerpt:

He lifted one of her wrists to his lips, surprising her when he pressed a tender kiss to her open palm. “You have your computers and games.” He lifted her other hand and pressed another kiss to the delicate skin. “And I have my own version of hardware.”

Their gazes met as he lifted his head. The smile she’d been about to give him faltered. The intensity sparkling in the fathomless blue of his eyes overwhelmed her. The gentle weight of the bindings made her more aware of her body. The floor swayed under her feet as she tugged on his hold.

She was helpless.

Her breathing sped up as she tugged again in an effort to escape. Each pull only made her powerlessness more evident. This wasn’t her. This wasn’t who she was. No way would she get off on being bound and unable to escape. No way in hell.

Why had she agreed to this again?

Anticipation raced through her veins, touching off feelings and sensations she’d never experienced before. This wasn’t similar to her botched moment with Daniel. Not even close. Her heart raced as Patrick walked in a slow circle around her. From his quiet murmurings, he seemed to be admiring his handiwork. Her breathing quickened when he stopped behind her and simply stood there.

His chest pressed against her back, her heart racing as the length of his hard cock fit against the curve of her ass. Even through the fabric of their clothes, heat built between them. That heat was so intense, she nearly tasted it. He pushed closer, causing her eyes to flutter closed as his mouth brushed over the delicate shell of her ear.

“Does the thought of surrendering wholly and completely to me excite you? All through dinner, I was thinking about locking these cuffs around your wrists. Then I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact I want to discover how you sound when you beg for me to allow you to come. Does that scare you?”

~*~

Sara Brookes is an award-winning author has always been fascinated by the strange, the unusual, the twisted and the lost (tortured heroes are her personal favorite). She is an action movie junkie, addicted to coffee and has been known to stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing RPG video games. Despite all this, she is a romantic at heart and is always a sucker for an excellent love story. Born and bred in Virginia, Sara still lives there with her husband and daughter. The entire family is owned by two cats, Galahad and Loki, who graciously allow the family to cater to their every desire.

Sara can be found:

Website: www.sarabrookes.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sara_Brookes

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/brookesofbooks

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/authorsarabrookes

Special Announcement List: http://eepurl.com/mbG31

Book Link:

http://www.ellorascave.com/taking-over-me.html

Giveaway Details:

One winner will be chosen from the Rafflecopter entries for a special Swag Pack (with a limited-edition coffee mug for the coffee shop featured in Taking Over Me). Entries will be accepted from midnight 3/20 and run through midnight 3/27 (all times EST). If you’re unfamiliar with Rafflecopter, it’s an easy way to earn extra entries to the contest! But remember, it’s only mandatory to comment.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rites Of Spring Blog Hop

Hi everyone,
Take a look at an excerpt from my book Forever.  This excerpt is from the first time Lena tells Devin she's his mate. 

And then, at the end, go ahead and comment to win one of my books. Let me know which of my books is your favorite or which one you'd like to know more about from the cover. I'll give out a copy of Forever to a randomly drawn commentator. Make sure you make it to the end of the tour! You could win a Kindle! 

“You’re my mate, Devin. I’ve known it since the first time I was in your company when I was seven years old.” 

Devin gripped the side of the table he stood next to like she’d struck him. “No.” 

“No?” She hadn’t expected the pain of his rejection. She’d known he might not believe her at first. Tears she refused to shed clogged her throat. “It’s not ‘no.’ I’m your mate, such that I am.” 

Lena knew she wasn’t an ideal Female specimen. Her skin frequently broke out in horrible bouts of acne, although she looked pretty clear at the moment, her chin jutted out too far, her hands were not dainty, and when she shifted, her Wolf form frequently had trouble coming to a stop at high speeds. More than once she’d collided into trees, bushes, and other Wolves. 

But she knew she was a nice person. She could work hard, and she never asked anyone for anything but common decency. She’d be a good mate to him, and he shouldn’t be rejecting her outright. 

Unless he found her absolutely repulsive to look at…. 

“You’ve made a mistake. Whatever you thought you smelled when you were a child was the wild fantasy of a young girl. You should be over it by now.” 

She sighed. “Devin, I can still smell it. I promise when you get to know me, you’ll find out I’m not wildly fanciful. I live in the real world.” 

“I can’t smell it on you. Not at all. I’m sorry, Lena. You seem like a nice kid, but if you can really smell mating from me, then it’s one of those rare occasions where one Wolf feels something the other doesn’t.” 

Lena had heard about those situations. It was every young Wolf’s deepest fear. Something went askew with the chemistry. One Wolf felt mated and the other one didn’t. They could even mate with someone else. 

“I think you should go home and work on getting over whatever this is because, at least for my part, it is not a mating.” 

Lena’s heart might explode from her chest. She turned on her heel. What else was there to say, really? He’d said no. He didn’t feel it. She’d waited fifteen years for him to come home, and it had been for nothing. 

She kept her head upright until she reached her bedroom. Even in her own house, she couldn’t cry. It would upset her parents, and Mom had enough of a burden with Dad’s Decline. There was no money. There never would be again. She couldn’t finish school. Her sisters had all gone off to live their lives. There would be no mating to look forward to. 

For the rafflecopter draw:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/YTYzYTdkMGFiYzBiMzU2NjY4ZTNjMTAyZmU2Y2M3OjE0/

For the participants list:

http://www.markofthestars.com/wp/?page_id=10037

Back From Vacation

Well, I've returned from vacation. I took the kids to visit my parents in Florida. We had a very good time despite some cold weather throwing off our pool/beach plans for the week. Instead we visited a cool Aquarium and a Big Cat Sanctuary.

All in all, the children and I had a wonderful time.  My husband wasn't able to join us and we all missed him a ton but we were so busy having fun that the time did fly on by.

Somehow, amidst all that, I also got a ton of writing done.  I appreciate that you're all waiting for the last Westervelt book and believe me I really want to give it to you.  Its moving toward the end now and I am cognizant of wanting to give you, me, and Gabriel the proper ending to the series.  Every character who has ever been in the previous books wants to come out for one more run around the room. But, its Gabe's story and he is a strong character.  I'm hoping to do him justice.

Keep sending me your e-mails. I love them.

Forever! New Book Release!

Devin Owen has come back from the Dragon Wars a changed Werewolf. For one thing, he's lost his wolf side as well as much of his desire to live. He spends most of his life doped up to handle the pain from his injured leg. Lena Knox knew the moment she met Devin that he was her mate. But, she’d been a child at the time and he hadn't noticed her at all. Now, all grown up, she wants Devin to be the wolf she’s waited for. Not that she has a lot of time for longing with life and home crumbling around her. A couple of heated encounters draw them together, but is it enough to overcome the war wounds they both carry? Or will an outside enemy destroy them before they get the chance to find forever? Genre: Paranormal, erotic, military romance, fantasy, shapeshifters, werewolves Heat level: 3 Word count – 16k Cover art by Fantasia Frog Designs ~Excerpt~ “You’re my mate, Devin. I’ve known it since the first time I was in your company when I was seven years old.” Devin gripped the side of the table he stood next to like she’d struck him. “No.” “No?” She hadn’t expected the pain of his rejection. She’d known he might not believe her at first. Tears she refused to shed clogged her throat. “It’s not ‘no.’ I’m your mate, such that I am.” Lena knew she wasn’t an ideal Female specimen. Her skin frequently broke out in horrible bouts of acne, although she looked pretty clear at the moment, her chin jutted out too far, her hands were not dainty, and when she shifted, her Wolf form frequently had trouble coming to a stop at high speeds. More than once she’d collided into trees, bushes, and other Wolves. But she knew she was a nice person. She could work hard, and she never asked anyone for anything but common decency. She’d be a good mate to him, and he shouldn’t be rejecting her outright. Unless he found her absolutely repulsive to look at…. “You’ve made a mistake. Whatever you thought you smelled when you were a child was the wild fantasy of a young girl. You should be over it by now.” She sighed. “Devin, I can still smell it. I promise when you get to know me, you’ll find out I’m not wildly fanciful. I live in the real world.” “I can’t smell it on you. Not at all. I’m sorry, Lena. You seem like a nice kid, but if you can really smell mating from me, then it’s one of those rare occasions where one Wolf feels something the other doesn’t.” Lena had heard about those situations. It was every young Wolf’s deepest fear. Something went askew with the chemistry. One Wolf felt mated and the other one didn’t. They could even mate with someone else. “I think you should go home and work on getting over whatever this is because, at least for my part, it is not a mating.” Lena’s heart might explode from her chest. She turned on her heel. What else was there to say, really? He’d said no. He didn’t feel it. She’d waited fifteen years for him to come home, and it had been for nothing.