Is it that time already?

Wow it's that time of the month again folks - yep, release day! Cody's Revelation book two in my Shifters' Haven series is available to purchase and download from Total-E-Bound today. I can't believe it's already been over a month since Luke's Surprise came out. The time has literally flown by.

I'm having so much fun writing the series and I hope everyone is enjoying reading it. I'm currently in the middle of writing books five and six. Book five is the story of Nate, the elder brother of Rick, Kelan's beta in Luke's story and books six is devoted to Gregory, a Leopard shifter who works for the supernatural council, introduced in book four.

For interested parties I have included the buy link to Cody's Revelation below. I hope you enjoy!

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1225

The upside to bad reviews.

Luke's Surprise, Cody's Revelation and Kelan's Pursuit, the first three books in my Shifters' Haven series I wrote simultaneously. Luke's story was the first completed and submitted to a publisher, with books two and three completed soon afterwards.

Although I love the books dearly, perhaps because they were the first, I'm amazed how much I've learnt and hopefully grown as a writer in the months since they were submitted. This is certainly the case with regards to the technical aspects of writing. During the editing process I learnt about point of view shifts or 'headhopping', grammar, taglines, overuse of names, wow the list goes on. However, the most important way we can learn to be better writers I feel, is to listen to constructive criticism from people who have read our books and learn from it. Writers are constantly striving to produce the best quality work possible, and of course writing is a craft. The more we practice, the better we get.

Even though Luke's Surprise has been out for a month now, I am still getting reviews and feedback on it. I read every review and always try to take the comments onboard and see if anything can be learned from them. Cody's Revelation - book two in my series is due for release tomorrow. I'm hoping the response will be as positive as it was for Luke's Surprise, but unlike the first book I'm actually looking forward to the reviews, both positive and negative because hopefully I'll be able to learn even more from them.

That being said, it is of course wonderful to hear positive things about our 'babies'. I had another great review a few days ago from Dark Diva Reviews. The reviewer - Lasha - rated Luke's Surprise 3 1/2 Divas and said "Luke's Surprise is Ms. Lewis' first book and in my opinion is a very good start to her writing career". How cool is that? If you'd like to read the whole review, I have added the link below.

http://www.darkdivasreviews.com/?p=5079

Times they are a changing.

Can I just say I love being a writer in this digital age. E-book sales are growing exponentially and I’m sure there will soon come a time when they by far outsell their paper rivals. I know for example that HarperCollins have launched an all digital line - Avon Impulse.

It is also a very good time to write M/M romance. The genre is a long way from being commercial but it’s getting there. Harlequin’s Carina press even offers an M/M line and we can only hope the other big publishing houses follow suit. It’s wonderful to see the biggest names in the industry embrace eBooks and with them M/M romance.

That being said, I’m very proud to be a part of my publishing company. Total-e-bound are a digital company with print on demand releases. The company are constantly striving to improve the service they provide to both readers and authors. They are growing rapidly and in the last few weeks alone have taken on many new authors, some brand new to publishing and others that are established and well known in their genres.

I've included a link below to Total-e-Bound's latest newsletter which outlines some of the changes they are making to their site to improve their service to customers. One of those changes includes Pre-orders, a service in which titles can be purchased before they are released. And yes my next book - Cody's Revelation is among those titles. Be sure to check it out.

http://news.total-e-bound.com/newsletter.asp?article=474

Rave Review

I had a great review recently from Literary Nymphs I thought I'd share with you all. Luke's Surprise, the first book in my Shifters' Haven series was given 4.5 Nymphs by the reviewer. I have to admit it's an amazing feeling when you hear that someone has read and enjoyed your work. So far I've had lots of positive comments about the book. I can't believe it's been a month already since it was released. The time has literally flown by. In less than a week, book two in the series - Cody's Revelation - is due to be released and I can only hope it is as well received as Luke's story has been. I've included the link to the review below if you'd like to 'take a gander'.

http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/2011/05/lukes-surprise.html

Aaron's Awakening

I had some great news today I thought I'd share with you all, Aaron's Awakening - book four in my Shifters' Haven series has been contracted by Total-E-Bound and is due for release in the next few months. I haven't received the cover for Aaron's book yet but as soon as I get it I'll be sure to post it. Until then I thought I'd share an excerpt from the new book.

    Aaron slid his arm around Cary’s waist and tugged him closer until the top halves of their body were pressed firmly together. He grunted loudly. Cary wasn’t sure if it was the effect of the kiss or because of the pain in Aaron’s chest. But Aaron didn’t complain and the kiss grew heated until it was a frenzy of lips, teeth and tongue. Cary grabbed a handful of Aaron’s hair and used it to hold his head in place while he devoured Aaron’s mouth with a need he hadn’t known he possessed.
    He knew he must stop. This had already gone too far but the kiss felt so right. It had been a long time since Cary had felt this alive and he didn’t want the feeling to end. Would it hurt to allow himself one little kiss? Aaron tasted incredible and the passion and intensity he was displaying was sending Cary into orbit. If Cary was deriving this much pleasure from a simple kiss then having the wolf in his bed would be electric. No, he shouldn’t think about that. They couldn’t take this any further than they already had.
    “Quit thinking so much.” Aaron drew back from Cary’s lips and traced kisses along his jaw line and down his throat. He scraped his teeth along the vein in Cary’s neck and suddenly Cary was right on the edge and not the slightest bit concerned of falling.
    “Cary Lewis?” Somewhere in his lust filled haze, Cary was aware of someone speaking his name.
    Aaron pulled away from Cary’s throat and turned his head. Cary was about to protest but when he turned to look in the same direction there was a man standing outside the corral. His arms rested on the top post of the fence and he was regarding Aaron and Cary with an amused expression.
    “Shit.” Cary jumped up and brushed himself down, aware of the bulge in his jeans which was wilting rapidly under the man’s steady gaze. “I’m Cary Lewis. Who are you?”
    “I’m Gregory Hale.” The man’s eyes flicked to Cary’s groin and lingered for a moment before he looked up and met Cary’s gaze. His grin broadened. He stretched out his hand for Cary to shake. “I’m from the supernatural council. I think you and I need to have a little chat.”

Raised eyebrows at an M/M kiss.

I had a wonderful time at ladies night of the Lincoln Book festival on Tuesday. All the staff at Total-E-Bound did an incredible job organising the night and they succeeded in raising a lot of money for the local charity they supported, so all good!

It was really great to meet some of my fellow TEB authors and staff. I was made to feel very welcome so thank you everyone!

I did a reading on the night from Luke's Surprise. Seventy people turned up for the dinner and I had to sit on a chair in the middle of the dance floor with a microphone. I can't begin to describe how nervous I was. I chose what I thought was a very tame extract from the book - A kiss between the two main characters Luke and Mark. As it turned out there were a lot of raised eyebrows and clearing of throats in the room. It seems not everyone thought the extract to be as tame as I'd imagined it to be. And apparently it didn't go down too well with some of the women there. Oh well, I won't apologise for what I write. I love to read M/M romantic fiction and I love writing it. Hopefully there were readers at the function who share my views. All in all it was an excellent night and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I am totally wiped out now though! Stayed up chatting and laughing until 4 a.m with Serena Yates and Emmy Ellis and I slept like the dead last night! Can't wait for the GLBT meet in Milton Keynes in July when I'll get to see everyone again.

Lincoln Book Festival

I'm giving my first book reading for my publishers Total-E-Bound tomorrow at the opening night of the Lincoln Book Festival and I'm incredibly nervous. I've gone over the extract I'll be reading about a hundred times now and even though I know it like the back of my hand I'm convinced I'll be stumbling over the words and stuttering my way through the entire scene.

I've never been brilliant at public speaking and the closer the night gets the more I think 'Why did you sign up for this, you idiot?' Okay, I admit, that did sound a little over-dramatic, even for me. I'm hoping I'll sail through the reading and take my seat wondering what all the fuss was about, then again...

What are your thoughts on public speaking? I have had to make a few presentations before in my day job but they were in front of a handful of people. There are a hundred or so attending the dinner I will be speaking at. Cripes! How would you prepare for the evening? Would you do it at all? Any tips would be greatly appreciated folks.

If anyone is interested, here is a link to the event http://news.total-e-bound.com/newsletter.asp?article=463