Interview with author of Contemporary Romance

Today I’m interviewing Natasha Moore. Her book, Her Royal Masquerade is a contemporary romance and was released on October 21, 2013.

Describe the genre of this particular title. Is it the only genre you write in? Her Royal Masquerade is a contemporary romance, a contemporary royal romance if you want to get a little more specific. I’m having a lot of fun writing this series, but it is not the only genre I write in. I’ve written the odd futuristic or fantasy or paranormal, but I mostly write contemporary and I always write romance.

1. How did you come up with the title of your book or series? Her Royal Masquerade is book #1 in the Her Royal Romance series. The series name is pretty self-explanatory. Book #1’s title comes from the opening premise – the heroine masquerades as her princess cousin when she attends the ball where she meets the prince.

Book #2 Her Royal Bodyguard was released on New Year’s Day and again is self-explanatory, it’s the story of a princess protected by a sexy bodyguard.

2. When did you start writing toward publication? I’ve been writing forever, but first got serious about it in the early 90s. I had several complete manuscripts requested by Harlequin, but eventually they were rejected. I took a break from writing for about 6 years when my kids were teenagers and were in every activity imaginable, on top of a full-time job, the writing just wasn’t happening. In 2002, I started focusing on my writing again and signed my first contract in 2006.

3. Do you have any rejection stories to share? Too many to count, was my first thought. LOL I’ve been writing and submitting for a long time and those first few rejections were completely heartbreaking (although I know how lucky I was to have a full requested from my first query ever!) Don’t get me wrong, they still hurt after 20 years, but I’ve developed a thicker skin and I rarely cry, but usually still indulge in wine and chocolate. And then re-think my plan for the book.

4. Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract? Don’t give up. I know it’s cliché, but you need to hear it over and over again. There are plenty of people who want to write who WILL give up, so if you really want this, and you don’t give up, you’ll be ahead of the game. Also, be open-minded about genres and markets. You know all those rejections I mentioned. Most of them I was able to tweak to target other publishers. And they sold.

5. Who or what inspires you? Other writers. Other books. Some because I didn’t like them at all and strive to be better than that. Some because of how utterly awesome they are and I strive to be half as good.

1. Can you share two/three fun facts about yourself? I used to sing in a women’s barbershop chorus and even in a couple barbershop quartets.
In another life, I’d have loved to sing & dance on the stage. Instead, I have to enjoy from the audience.
I love to visit new places but hate to travel. I wish Scotty could just “beam” me wherever I want to go.

2. What’s next for you?
I will be releasing books #2 & 3 in Her Royal Romance. Book # 2 Her Royal Bodyguard will be released early in 2014. Her Royal Mistake, book #3, will be out later in the year.
I will have two releases from Samhain Publishing in 2014. Playing for Real will be out in Feb and The Cottage Next Door in Sept.

BOOK BLURB
Time is running out for Prince Vittorio. His father’s health is failing and he must find a royal bride. Fast. He’s never forgotten his glimpse of a beautiful Scandinavian princess and lures her to his Mediterranean country with an invitation to his father’s birthday ball. He’d planned to propose a marriage agreement as cold as her icy reputation, but then he discovers she’s as colorful and warm as a summer sunset. The heat between them flares red-hot and when she allows him to seduce her, Vittorio sees his future unfolding just as he had planned. But what he doesn’t know is that the woman in his bed is not a princess at all.
The last thing schoolteacher Mia Holmberg expects when she masquerades as her royal cousin is to be swept off her feet by a charming prince. The incredible night in Vittorio’s arms is like a fairy tale come true, but she’d never want the life of a real princess, with all its pomp and politics. Knowing they can never have a future together, she slips out of his bed and back to reality, where she belongs.

But Vittorio discovers the deception and kidnaps Mia back to his palace, demanding she be his mistress until the real princess appears. Despite her attempts to stay aloof, Mia soon learns there’s more to the prince than arrogance and attitude, but now she’s in danger of falling in love with a man she can never have.
Excerpt

Mia’s skin tingled as Vittorio continued to play with her hair and softly brushed her face with his once again. They were barely moving, not doing much more than swaying in each other’s arms to the rhythm of the music. His breath was warm along her cheek. He murmured a few words she didn’t recognize. Soft words with a silky, sensual feel to them, just like the lips that were now teasing along her jaw line.

Her breath caught when his lips found hers. He drew them lightly across hers, not a real kiss, but the hint of one, the promise of more, if only they weren’t in the middle of a crowd. Mia shifted in his arms, moving her body against his. She found his hard erection and her body softened, moistened.
What was she doing?

“Hot,” she gasped, stumbling out of his embrace. “So hot. I’m sorry. I need some air.”
“Of course.” Vittorio wrapped his arm around her waist and the couples on the dance floor stopped and parted for them. He led her to a French door in a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows that opened onto a softly lit patio.

Mia rushed over to the waist high railing constructed of rough-hewn stone like the rest of the palace. Darkness had fallen while she’d been inside. Lights from the towns around them sparkled below. Stars in the inky sky twinkled above. Once again she had the feeling of stepping into a fairy tale.

The air was warm, even outside, with barely a breeze to lift the moisture from her skin. She took a few decidedly un-princesslike gulps of air, trying to calm the edgy arousal that burned within her.
“Are you alright?” Vittorio asked. He stepped up to her and the heat from his body didn’t help her at all. “Do you need to sit down? Something cold to drink?”

“I’ll be okay. Just give me a minute. I guess I’m just not used to the climate here.” She was so hot. She began to tug down one of the opera-length gloves. Would it be a serious breach of conduct if she whipped them off and threw them over the railing?

“Allow me,” he said, his voice suddenly a little deeper, a little slower than it had been a moment before. He took her hand in his, stretched out her arm in front of him. He ran his free hand up, starting at the palm of the hand resting in his. Slowly, so slowly, he moved his hand up her arm. There might as well not have been the fabric of the glove between them, she felt his touch so strongly. When his fingers reached the top of the glove, he didn’t immediately begin to remove it. Instead, he teased the bare skin of her upper arm with his fingers. “So soft,” he whispered, holding her gaze. He swept his hand up to her bare shoulders and cupped her neck, skimming his thumb along her collar bone, just above the diamonds Birgitte had trusted her with. “This beautiful necklace is not half as lovely as you,” he murmured.

She couldn’t speak, could only offer a shaky smile in response. He was holding her hand, her throat. Could he feel her trembling beneath his touch?

“But you are hot. It is our weather, no doubt. I can help you with this problem, I think.” Vittorio began to slowly peel the glove from her arm, dragging his fingers along her skin as he did. He focused all his attention on her arm, as if it were the most important thing to him at the moment.
What would it be like to have that single-minded attention focused on her while making love? Even as Vittorio stripped off her glove, her body heated further with the image of his long, powerful frame moving over her, entering her.

Mia imagined he would take command of her body, ensuring that he pleasured her with all the skill he surely possessed. She couldn’t help but wonder if he would look as amazing out of the expensively tailored clothing as he did at this moment. Of course, he would. Everything about Vittorio was first class. He would fit right in with Birgitte. Mia wasn’t close to being in the same league.
Vittorio began to strip off the second glove, giving it every bit as much attention as he had given to the first one. His fingers strummed along her arm as he tugged at the satin. Her newly bared arm hung at her side, her fingers closed into a fist so she didn’t reach out and tangle them in his thick hair.

“Don’t you have breezes in Mezzano?” she asked, her voice rough with desire. She hoped he would think it was the heat that affected her so. He still held one of her hands in his. She lifted the other hand to wave in front of her face, trying to stir the muggy air.
“Ah, my poor cara. It is still and humid this evening. Be assured we have our share of wind and rain.” The second glove was off now and Vittorio released her hand. How ridiculous it was to feel bereft at the loss of his touch. He folded the gloves and tucked them into the pocket of his jacket.
Mia lifted her heavy hair off her neck to try to cool off for a moment. Maybe she should have worn it up. “I know I should enjoy the warm weather. Right now in Stagatland I would have to be bundled up in a coat and scarf and boots to stand outside.”

Vittorio swept his gaze over her. “And it would truly be a shame to cover the amazing view I have at this moment.”

She let her hair fall down her back. “I suspect you have had a lot of practice with those charming lines,” Mia said, letting the amusement show in her voice. Still, she soaked up the compliment, let the pleasure flow over her like a warm spring rain.

He took her hand, lifted it to his lips. This time the kiss to the back of her bare hand sent fireworks bursting through her system. “It’s only the truth, Birgitte.”
Hearing her cousin’s name fall from Vittorio’s lips was like a handful of snow smacking her in the face. Of course. She had to remember she wasn’t Mia Holmberg tonight. She’d almost forgotten she was playing a part. Still, she lifted a skeptical brow at his words, they were so foreign to those she usually heard.

“You will find that I always speak the truth,” he said. “I despise lies and deception. I have heard and seen too many of them during my years in the palace. Too many people say one thing to my face and another behind my back. I speak only the truth when I say that I am so glad you accepted our invitation to my father’s birthday celebration and that I find you incredibly attractive. I would never lie to you.”

Mia shuddered at his words. She couldn’t let him discover her deception. He would never understand.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Natasha Moore fell in love with the written word as soon as she could read. As she grew up, she discovered romance and now enjoys the chance to add some extra heat to her stories. She writes sexy contemporary and erotic romance because she believes that stories of love and hope are important, and that there’s nothing better than a happy ending. She lives in New York State with her real life hero who is happy to tell everyone that he’s her inspiration.
How can my readers buy your book?
Her Royal Masquerade :
Amazon
B&N
Apple
Kobo

You can find more information about Natasha Moore and my book, Her Royal Masquerade by visiting my website, http://natashamoore.com or my blog at http://fierceromance.blogspot.com.
Twitter https://twitter.com/natashamoore
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/natashamooreauthor
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/natasha_moore
Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Natasha-Moore/e/B004HX3QEI/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1387570208&sr=1-2-ent
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/natashamoore144/

Thanks! Natasha
Thank you!
Lisa xxx

If you have any questions for Natasha please post in the comments.

#menage #HOT #eroticromance #Paranormal Buy here – http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Wonderland-Lisa-Whitefern-ebook/dp/B009H6WAXI/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385634902&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=LisaWhitefern … … 4th for Best Paranormal Romance in Passionate Plume award

or http://store.samhainpublishing.com/lisa-whitefern-pa-1737.html …

Some Important Websites for Fiction Writers.

To make this blog a little more helpful and comprehensive, I thought I should include some links to other sites that are really helpful for writers.

Here is Fiction Factor- A great free online magazine for writers. http://www.fictionfactor.com/

Here is an amazing blog about how authors can and should use social media for promotion. http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/about/

The site Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me the Money is the only one of its kind that I know of, that attempts to give information about income from romance writing. It is somewhat out of date though, so I would say the money is maybe slightly better than the site indicates, for some successful publishers.
I have

The Magic of Animated Christmas Movies

The Magic of Animated Christmas Movies

If you were a child of the ‘70s, you’ll remember a time when there were no DVDs to watch at home, so if there was something special on TV, it was more exciting than it would ever be in this day and age.

How excited my little sister and I were by all those animated Christmas movies full of magic and wonder, that only came on TV on Christmas Eve.

I guess those stories are really ingrained in my psyche, because my first ever published story was one of those Christmas tales, and it appeared in the children’s pages in our city newspaper when I was 10 years old.

When I conceived of my eroticnovel Wicked Wonderland, I also wanted to capture that magic. I wanted to capture it in an eroticromance.  The three goals I had for Wicked Wonderland were to write a magical paranormal Christmas story, an emotional romance between 3 people in a ménage, and an erotic story hot enough to jingle sleigh bells and curl your mistletoe!

For those of you wanting only market news  info from my blogs (shut up about your new release and your childhood, Lisa and give us the market goss!) I introduce to you  Riptide Publishing.

Riptide Publishing is a boutique purveyor of some of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, genderqueer)  fiction, romance . Created by experienced M/M authors who were hungry for more favorable contracts, editing, marketing support, and royalty rates, Riptide Publishing seeks to fill a critical niche in the LGBTQ market: quality books, pristinely packaged, that will satisfy readers’ desires for rich, plotty, well-edited stories for which the author is fairly paid.

Although Riptide is an invitation only publisher for general submissions they give authors the opportunity to submit to Open Calls so you can get your foot in the door. Once you have a story accepted to one of their open calls you become an in house author. Their royalty rates are very good and they have some very fine authors  so Lisa Whitefern recommends this press.

Agents and Editors Wish Lists

Click if you wish to buy Wicked Wonderland my erotic  menage novel about bisexual  half-fae who fly around the world in Santa’s sleigh delivering sex toys while being pursued by an evil force bent on their destruction.  🙂

Today I’m posting some agents and editors wish lists that I’ve hunted up, but please realize, just because your idea isn’t on an agent or editor’s wish list certainly doesn’t mean the agent or editor might not LOVE to have it.  Agents say they are constantly surprised by what they fall in love with. That being said, reading editors and agents wish lists is pure fun.

They are fun because they give us an idea of the kind of topics that people in the publishing industry think might sell. They also might give any of us ideas for a future book!

Kate Schafer Testerman with KT Literary is looking for

brilliant, funny, original middle grade and young adult fiction.

Both literary and commercial; witty women’s fiction. Quirky is good.

Alicia Condon ekensington‘s Editorial Director  is looking for 60,000-word contemporary romance with Alpha heroes or small town settings and high concept single title contemporary romance. She will also look at paranormal and fantasy romance, romantic suspense, historical romance, young adult paranormal romance of 80,000 – 100,000 words).(Click on her name for guidelines and contact email.) Do not send full manuscript.

Lucia Macro is crying out for contemporary romances of approximately 50-60,000 words. for Avon Impulse both funny novels and intense and dramatic ones. She’d love military men, cowboys, billionaires and other tropes.

Rochelle French of Entangled’s Dead Sexy Romantic Suspense catagory romance line wants to see:

• A caper with quirky characters and a strong romance
• A cozy romantic mystery that starts with a bang
• A small town romantic thriller
• 
• A category length romantic suspense with a strong winter holiday theme for next winter.
• Traditional tropes (best friends to lovers, reunion romance, marriage of convenience, intimate strangers), while exploring the depths of the human condition as the suspense and romance build.
• 
• Plotlines outside the usual realm of category romance, such as amateur sleuth, hard-boiled detective, cozy mystery, medical/science, contemporary gothics, super-sensual thrillers—as long as the story has a strong, committed DEAD SEXY romance

Submissions for the Dead Sexy editors can be sent directly to deadsexy-submissions (at) entangledpublishing (dot) com ATTN: Rochelle. Check out the Dead Sexy submission guidelines for specific instructions!

Two Editors Wish Lists and Emotional Punch why you need it in your romance novel

Today I’ll give you a little market news and then share a workshop I gave on Emotional Punch.  Next week my blog will be on agents and editors wish lists so stay tuned.

Ruth Homrighaus of Entangled’s  Indulgence line wants to see:

• More funny books with strong tropes. She’d really like  a hilarious Vegas marriage of convenience.
• Cowboys, cowboys, cowboys
• 
• Forbidden love of any sort!
• A good falling-for-the-nanny book, contemporary or historical.
• Road trip stories–U.S., abroad, contemporary or historical–you name it!
• Historical submissions of all sorts, with bonus points for British empire (nineteenth-century Australia would be cool) or early-twentieth-century U.S. (think flappers, WWI or WWII, the Fifties).
• 
• Stories of love unrequited (and misdirected)

Submissions for Ruth can be sent directly to ruth (at) entangledpublishing (dot) com. Check out Indulgence submission guidelines for specific instructions!

Tracy Montoya of Entangled Publishing’s Dead Sexy line wants to see:

Fast-paced, sigh-worthy books for Dead Sexy. Anything that starts with a bang (literal or figurative) and keeps her up at night until the end qualifies! She’s also wishing for:

• Dark, gritty stories.
• Stories with lots of realistic forensic and/or legal detail.
• 
• Spies and other types of international intrigue/puzzles.
• Reunion romances (I’m a sucker for a love-gone-wrong-gone-right-again story!)
• Multicultural characters (and no, the Mexican drug lord with gold teeth does not count).
• Historical suspense—the darker the better. Gail Ranstrom is a particular favorite.
• Kick@$$ (in their own way) heroines—always.

Submissions for the Dead Sexy editors can be sent directly to deadsexy-submissions (at) entangledpublishing (dot) com ATTN: Tracy. Check out  Dead Sexy submission guidelines for specific instructions!

Why does Lisa Whitefern  think Entangled might be a good market? They have best sellers in the Romance category on Amazon.com They are getting a good name for themselves out there. I have heard the odd complaint about editors quitting suddenly, but other authors there report being very happy.

Emotional Punch and why you need it in your Romance Novel

One of the most common comments from editors rejecting romance manuscripts is “this story needs more emotional punch.” But what does this really mean?

Emotional Punch in a story is created by the emotional involvement, empathy and absorption the reader feels when caught up with the in your story. It is emotional rapport she feels with the characters and the steadily growing pace of the story and the emotional development that gives the story its page turning quality.

Romance author Barbara Hannay comments that sufficient emotional punch gives your story the “wham” that sets it apart from other stories.

In order to achieve emotional punch a writer must first give us characters we care about.  Characters need to grab at the readers emotions and make her care. To do this you need characters who come alive on the page.

Easier said then done right?

How do we create characters like that? Characters who stir a reader’s emotions?

Award winning Australian romance writer Valerie Parv suggests that at every separate stage of your story you ask yourself what the viewpoint character feels about what is happening. Both Valerie Prav in her book Heart and Craft and Stephen King in his book On Writing advise writers not to back off or skim the surface when writing but to dig deep.

Dig deep inside yourself for the deeper emotional truths that might be involved in any situation you are writing about.

Dig inside yourself for the emotions you would feel in the same situation then drag them out onto the page trough bodily sensations.

In order to make readers care about your characters you must know them as people.

Four ways to make a reader care more about you characters include having each of your characters have a “backstory wound” , a personal yearning, strengths and weaknesses and having clarity of theme.

A major back-story event that that bears directly upon the psychological story of your protagonist is referred to by professional book editor Elizabeth Lyon as “a back-story wound”

A back-story wound is a traumatic event in the character’s past that leaves its mark on the character.

In my novel Captured by Fae the heroine was found as a newborn baby in New York City dumpster so she has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about that.

She also has a relentless anonymous stalker who leaves her a lot of insulting messages referring to the circumstances of her birth.

In traditional fairytales Red Riding Hood is stalked by the ultimate predatory male while Cinderella grows up in the ultimate dysfunctional family. These characters go through hard times before they reach their goals and that tugs on our heart strings.

We can compare Cinderella’s miserable home situation with Harry Potter’s. Harry’s miserable downtrodden role in his own muggle family certainly attracted my attention and pulled on my emotions. Like many people I like to root for the underdog and Cinderella and Harry Potter are both timeless stories because their underdog status coupled with their quiet strength and ultimate determination to make something of themselves attracts our attention and involves our emotions.

My story Captured by Fae is in part a retelling of the fairy tale Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. My heroine’s mother is a gambling addict at risk of losing her home and at the beginning of Captured by Fae, my heroine Lillian Rudolph has taken a job as a stripper to help her mother pay the mortgage and keep her home.

However she’s really a classical musician so like Rudolph in the song she stands out like a sore thumb among the other strippers as someone very different. They decide because she is different she must be the unknown thief who has been stealing tips from their locker rooms and beat her up.

She is saved by two fae males who take her for a magical eroticride in Santa’s sleigh.

So Captured by Fae is also an underdog story that pulls at our emotions by keying in to those universal emotions felt by anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, or been bullied and dreamed of being suddenly rescued through the approval of someone powerful. In Harry Potter that someone powerful is Dumbledore, in Cinderella it’s her Fairy God mother, in Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer it’s Santa Claus himself and in my story Captured by Fae it’s two extremely sexy half fae/half human men who fall in love with my heroine.

In all these stories the protagonist is an underdog going through very hard times before triumphing and finding their happy endings and this packs a powerful emotional punch.

Many beginning writers choose conflicts that are too light.  But to get emotional depth you need to crank up the emotional difficulties your hero and heroine have.

If when the two half fae whisked my heroine away in the sleigh there were no emotional difficulties between them and they lived happily ever after that would not be enough story and would not provide enough emotional punch.

But in fact my heroine knows both of these men from her past when they were posing as full mortals getting an education at the same university she went to. So this is a reunion story with many layered issues between the three protagonists as well as some very dark magical villains who have strong motivations for destroying their happiness.

To intensify emotional punch you must steadily increase the emotional problems of your protagonists in a story.

Think about your current heroine and hero. Are they troubled by internal doubts? Do they face self image problems? Do they have reasons for feeling they don’t deserve unconditional love?

My story is a ménage so we have two heroes. The back-story wound for the more Alpha of my heroes is that when he was a tiny boy his mother often left him to go on adventure holidays. She was an adrenaline junkie who died in a sky diving accident when he was seven. So he has some bitterness and abandonment issues.  My other hero has a scar on his thigh and the reasons for this are left a mystery that I hope has some emotional punch on reveal.

In order to achieve emotional punch you need to drop you guard when writing about your character’s backstory wounds or any other emotional event in your novel. Before you can share the characters emotions you really need to be in touch with your own most intense emotions and feelings. Analyze your own most painful memories.

Australian romance writer Valerie Prav even suggests that if you are a writer who has never visited a professional counselor, that you do so now in order to have a deeper understanding of your own emotions so that you can understand your hero, heroines and even your villain’s emotions in more depth.

New York agent Donald Maass gives similar advice when he comments that “Novels that change lives do so because their authors are willing to draw upon their deepest selves without flinching. These authors hold nothing back making their novels the deepest possible expression of their own experience and beliefs.”

To ensure your story is emotion based you need to look at the role each scene or chapter is playing in the development of the romance.

The emotional structure of a romance might go through the following steps

Step 1—The heroine and hero either have a first meeting in which they feel strong attraction for each other coupled with the warning signs of conflict or the hero and heroine are reunited and back-story revealing emotional conflict from their past is carefully woven in.

Step 2—-The hero and heroine begin to feel  admiration for each other but this is complicated by conflict.  Or in the case of a reunion story – memories of the past rear their heads which  increases emotional tension. In a mainstream romance sexual tension will be on the page, but they will not be making love yet because of the conflict. In contrast, in a very sexy romance the hero and heroine may move quickly to sexual intimacy, but they will both probably be trying to keep their emotions under wraps. The heroine may tell herself that she is capable of having casual sex like a man without emotion as she shies away from what is really true love.

Step 3

Hero and heroine meet several more times and one or both of them fight their desires and/or their feelings for each other because of both internal and external conflicts.

Step 4

They are thrown together repeatedly by the plot, but conflict grows between them. In a sweeter romance they may fight their sexual desire for each other, in a sexy romance they fight their emotions and feelings.

Step 5

In a sweeter romance this may be the stage where the couple finally make love and lovemaking is later regretted when the conflict seems stronger than before. In a sensual, spicey or eroticromance this maybe a point when the conflict grows and becomes so great that they do not make love for awhile, as all focus is now on the conflict. The Grey moment may occur. This is the moment when the couple confront some important issue that seems like the main crisis but they pass through this crisis and it is not as black and devastating as The Black Moment coming up.

Step 6 The hero may declare his love but the heroine suspects his motives.

Step 7 The Black Moment.  Your story should have a heart wrenching black moment. How do you go about creating that?

A  few tips on creating a heart wrenching black moment from Donald Maas include making one of your protagonists face his or her greatest fear. Working out what your protagonist would never sacrifice and forcing him or her to sacrifice it, and making your protagonist do something the reader would think they would never do. Using one of these moments can lend tremendous emotional power to your black moment.

Step 8 Because of the black moment a future together seems impossible. Decisions are made in an attempt to solve the conflict.

Step 9 The decisions made prove to be the right one. All loose ends are tied up and the couple are free at last to make a commitment to each other.

Throughout your novel you may want to concentrate on one consistent emotional theme. Make sure the emotions your character feels are consistent. They may go on a roller coaster ride of emotions but you still need a dominant theme for you book to be a coherent read. You need to decide on the main emotion you want your readers to feel in each scene and also the main emotion you want your reader to feel reading your book. There should be an emotional theme to your story overall.

Readers read romance for the emotional journey. The more complicated your plot is the more you run the risk of losing the emotional theme running through the book so you must always remember to come back to that theme. Your heroine and hero relationship must be central to everything and more important than other details.

Kate Walker comments that in a romance you have to concentrate on a central relationship and because of this of you need to make sure that what you are describing is a very special, deep, and heartfelt sort of emotion. My own novel Captured by Fae is a ménage but it is an eroticromance and so I took care to make sure that I portrayed a once in a lifetime love of the sort every romance should be. In the fantasy world I created the fae live in ménage relationships with their fated mates. The three protagonists in my novel are half human and half fae and so they are unsure if a fated threesome even exists for them.

The romance relationship in your novel should have real depth and real value. The romance should be so much more than a crush.  They need to be someone of real value to one another, someone you would want to spend your life with. Someone without whom the other protagonist or in the case of a ménage protagonists would feel hollow and empty if they didn’t have them in their lives. The relationship needs to be the ultimate in true love.

Kate Walker suggests asking yourself 12 questions about emotional punch

1. Have I allowed time for my characters to explore their feelings between plot events?
2.  Have I made sure that the plot doesn’t get in the way of the characters emotions.
3.  Have I shown emotions through dialogue body language, the choices my characters make?
4. Have I hinted at a subtext- thoughts and feelings below the surface?
5. Have I allowed my characters to react with emotions true to their personalities?
6. Have I used specific details to create a picture so vivid that my reader reacts emotionally?
7. Have I created a conflict worth being divided over?
8. Have I put my characters into the most dramatic situations possible?
9. Have I raised the stakes to force my characters to make tough decisions
10. Have I used dynamic verbs and adjectives?
11. Have I used the environment to reflect, contrast with or illuminate my character’s emotions?
12. Do I feel emotion when I read the most dramatic scenes in my book?

Think back over books you’ve read in the past –the ones you’ve enjoyed most and the ones that made your heart beat faster or made your eyes sting with tears. What emotions did they awaken in you? What is it about the story that appealed to you the most? What did you remember the most? It was probably an emotional moment.

For example in Wuthering Heights Heathcliffe’s outrage  at the way he’d been treated as an outcast. The passion and desperation between him and Cathy when Cathy is torn apart by misery because she didn’t follow her heart.

Personally I also feel emotional punch listening to the lyrics of Eminem’s songs. And considering how well they sell I think a lot of other people must feel that emotional punch too. Eminem’s fury at having been abandoned by his deadbeat Dad, and his angst about being brought up by a poor drug addicted mother. His anger about being bullied as a child and very poor as a young adult. His passionate love for his daughter and his fury at his exwife.

Nora Robert’s stories often pack a powerful emotional punch. For example in Nora Robert’s book Birthright thirty year old Callie Dunbrook finds out that she she was kidnapped from her stroller when she was only three months old.

In Public Secrets Emma McAvoy gets whisked out of poverty and into the glamour of rock-music at the age of 3, But when her baby half brother is tragically kidnapped, Emma’s new world changes again, and she must live with the guilt and the uneasy sense that she knows more than she remembers.

Think about novels, songs, and movies that really made you feel. This should help you concentrate on putting emotional punch into your own stories.

 

Then give your characters’ wounds, make your black moments really big ones, and be utterly ruthless to your characters then pull them out of that black hole with a happy ending that arises realistically from the choices your characters made.  That is what emotional punch is all about.

Who’s looking for YA? (Agents and Editors looking for Young Adult Fiction)

A strange fact of the current publishing market is that teenagers on the whole are considered reluctant to embrace ebooks. Much more reluctant than adults. A number of digital first publishers that tried having a line for teenagers have closed that line and no longer accept young adult fiction. Samhain stopped accepting Young Adult Fiction. The Wild Rose Press closed their “Climbing Rose” young adult line. Harlequin’s Digital first imprint Carina takes almost every kind of romance BUT Young Adult Romance.

(These bookcovers are for illustrative purposes only and do not indicate that the authors are clients of the aforementioned agents.)

So I’ll start with a couple of agents and then look at which digital first lines ARE still open to Young Adult Fiction.

Francis Collin accepts queries for YA. This agency prefers Young Adult Fiction, literary fiction, memoir, narrative nonfiction, and travel narratives. They accept email queries as long as there are no attachments. http://www.francescollin.com/

Why would Lisa Whitefern recommend Book Ends Literary Agency? This is another agency with a solid reputation and I  met one of their agents (Jessica Faust)  at a Romance Writers of New Zealand conference and she was extremely professional in every way.

Kim Lionetti has extensive experience in editing as she was formerly  Senior Editor at  Berkley Publishing for eight years before joining bookends

In Digital First Publishing the up and coming digital first publisher Entangled is looking for Young Adult Fiction.

Entangled appears to have a growing reputation among authors interested in digital first publishing. Some of their adult contemporary novels are best sellers on Amazon. While I must be honest and say I have heard some complaints from authors about Entangled (editors quitting suddenly and leaving them in the lurch) many  other authors are  happy and Entangled seems to have developed a surprisingly good reputation in a small amount of time

Entangled Teen is described as a high-concept, engaging line of books geared to the Young Adult audience. Thanks to a more traditional editorial calendar of twelve to eighteen months between acquisition and publication, Entangled Teen will be distributed by Publisher’s Group West, one of the largest print distributors in the world. Emphasis is placed on shelving Entangled Teen titles in brick and mortar stores in an effort to maximize visibility and availability to the target audience.

Royalty rates for Entangled Teen are 20% of cover for digital, and 9% of cover for print.

Entangled Teen is seeking

• Upper YA (16-21 year old protags) that will appeal to crossover audiences
• Younger YA/MG (13-15 year old protags) that will appeal to crossover audiences
• YA novels should be 50k to 100k words in length.

Harlequin Digital First

NEW! Digital First Series from Harlequin

I’ve said before that I am quite unsure  how these new Digital First lines created by the BIG publishers will do in terms of sales but one hopes the Harlequin name might sell ebook Teen Romance to teenage girls.

As far as Young Adult Fiction goes Harlequin is most interested in your Teen Romance but may also take on other good quality fiction geared at Young Adults.

For Harlequin Teen print imprint most people still need an agent.

Harlequin Escape —– Harlequin’s really getting into that Digital First Market

If you’re an Australian or a New Zealander or perhaps even in a country nearby us you might be interested in Harlequin Escape especially if you have a teen romance set in Australia or another country around this part of the globe.

They don’t appear to have a strong focus on YA, but I believe if you sent them a great YA New Zealand or Australian romance they’d be keen since they take all heat levels of romance including sweet, and are really really keen to acquire Australian set romances in particular.

The fact remains that the majority of the top digital first publishers are still rejecting YA however a February Publishers’ Weekly article denies teens are still reluctant to embrace YA so perhaps we will see a change in this soon.
I also found this nice site for writers who love YA.YAtopia

 

 

To read the blurb and an excerpt from my sexy paranormal menage Samhain Publishing click here  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/wicked-wonderland-p-7081.html

What is HOT right now according to editors and agents?

What’s hot right now according to agents and editors?

The following are some of the genres that Nelson Literary Agency are actively acquiring.

• Middle grade with a new unusual fantasy or magical element. Not psychics or wizards, but how about inventors or  or dragon tamers?
• Sara Megibow Associate Literary Agent of Nelson Literary Agency is actively hunting for  Historical romance, especially Regency and Victorian.
• Creative science fiction that’s heavy on the fiction and lighter on the science.
• And any  story in any genre for any age reader that deals with best friends and sweet first love.

Why would Lisa Whitefern recommend the Nelson Literary Agency?

This agency appears to have a solid reputation. To quote a little from their about page “Nelson Literary Agency was founded in 2002. In such a short time, the Nelson Agency has sold more than 150 books, landed several film deals, and has contracted foreign rights on behalf of our clients in all the major territories, including Germany, France, Holland, Japan, and even Russia and Indonesia. Nelson Agency authors have become national bestsellers, RITA-award winners, and have appeared on bestseller lists.”

Nelson Literary Agency are also looking for currently HOT genre New Adult Romance.

What else is HOT right now? — New Adult Romance

(Sexting the Limits is an Erotic New Adult Romance available at Ellora’s Cave.)

The publishing industry seems to be all a buzz about New Adult Fiction and New Adult Romance. What is New Adult Romance? It’s romance with  characters in their college years. The target audience is women age 18 to 25 who are looking for books with heroines they can relate to. Dialogue should be very current and casual, often sarcastic.

Carina Press is actively acquiring  New Adult Romance novels 50,000 words and up. They are most interested in contemporary but will consider paranormal, post apocalyptic, dystopian, etc . These stories must have a strong plot and “very definable protagonists”, 18 and above (or at an age eligible to enter college), in their early to mid-20s. While at least one protagonist should fall in this age range, it is possible the other protagonist may fall in their upper 20s.

Story elements should be targeted to an adult, not teen audience, and should contain adult contemporary themes, frank, modern language, high relationship drama and intense conflict. Characters actions, dress and dialogue should all be age-appropriate. Think of the relationship drama of the college years and run with that!

Other elements that work in this genre (but are not required to be considered for publication) include increased sensuality, love triangles, protagonists with traumatic events in their background.

What is HOT right now? Multicultural Romance for the Digital First Market

Ellora’s Cave has been actively looking to expand their range of Multicultural Erotic Romances.

This line is called FUSION
 
Fusion is about multicultural and interracial relationships. Their readers love African American/Caucasian, but in addition to more of these they want variety. Ellora’s Cave are actively acquiring stories that not only explore the trials and tribulations caused by cultural differences, but that celebrate those differences! They would especially like to see Latin and Arabian lovers in erotic romances with story lengths from 7K to 120K.

What else is HOT right now?–Contemporary Romance

For some reason plain contemporary romance without suspense or paranormal elements is topping all the best seller lists at places like Amazon, and Digital First Publisher’s websites right now.

LUCIA MACRO of Avon Impulse would like to see more contemporary romance featuring very good looking heroes and classic tropes especially bachelors, ranchers, and billionaires.

 What is HOT right now? Gay Werewolf Romance for the Digital First Market

Can you write a super explicit X rated male/male werewolf romance between 18,000 and 39,999 words before December 1^st? Ambure Allure is actively acquiring these stories although I’m sure this genre would be just as hot at Loose ID Ellora’s Cave,, Dreamspinner, Carina, Liquid Silver, Resplendence, Samhain  Siren or any other of the best digital first publishers.

All the agents, editors and digital first publishers I have mentioned in this blog currently have good reputations and/or a solid history in the industry.

To read the blurb and an excerpt from my sexy paranormal menage Samhain Publishing click here  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/wicked-wonderland-p-7081.html

Manic Readers review of Wicked Wonderland
http://www.manicreaders.com/index.cfm?disp=reviews&bookid=31987

 

Please note—-A publisher or agency who has to use Google ads to solicit your novel probably isn’t anyone you’d want to write for.
Please read this for more information on protecting yourself as an author. You should never pay anyone anything to produce your book for you. http://www.thepassivevoice.com/05/2013/the-author-exploitation-business/
Manic Readers review of Wicked Wonderland
http://www.manicreaders.com/index.cfm?disp=reviews&bookid=31987

Fresh Market News for October 26th. This week 3 actively acquiring markets discussed.

What’s different about my blog?  While there are a few other blogs publishing market news for writers of fiction,  I only post markets I believe have something of  a decent reputation behind them.  Of course I can’t guarantee that if you sign a contract with an e-pub or agent I recommend that you will have decent sales or a good experience. However  I  promise I won’t be publishing any news from markets that have no reputation at all.

Three Actively Acquiring Markets Discussed and Recommended this week

Samhain Publishing is actively acquiring horror novels

Black Lace- Erotica and Erotic Romance

Forever Yours Digital First Line

If you’re interested in publishing romance with a digital first publisher an incredibly useful place to do research is the blog of Emily Veinglory.

Emily Veinglory’s blog’s main serious purpose is to provide information about sales figures in digital first publishing. Just coincidentally I believe Emily is a New Zealander like me. Less coincidentally she is also published with Samhain. Emily’s research  led me to choosing Samahin as the best publisher for my novel.

So Fresh Market News from a publisher recommended by Lisa Whitefern? Samhain is REALLY interested in having a look at you horror novel!

Samhain is actively seeking talented writers who can tell an exciting, dramatic and frightening story, and who are eager to promote their work and build their community of readers.

Samhain is looking for novels—either supernatural or non-supernatural, contemporary or historical—that are original and compelling.  Authors can be previously unpublished or established, agented or un-agented.  Content can range from subtle and unsettling to gory and shocking.  The writing is what counts.

Criteria:

• Between 12,000 and 200,000 words, for print eligibility length must be a minimum of 50,000 and  a maximum 120,000 words
• A fresh premise that can be conveyed in a marketing hook of 2 – 3 sentences
• Believable, three-dimensional characters
• A gripping, suspenseful style
• Credible world-building that can make even the strangest creatures believable
• Within the horror genre, not fantasy or science-fiction, though borders often blur
• http://www.samhainpublishing.com/submissions/#horror

Interestingly fact about Samhain- Samhain was  the first publisher ever to have a book that was still only available as an ebook hit the NYT Best Seller List. A western erotic romance by Maya Banks.

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More market news. Black Lace the famed UK publisher of erotic books who has been around since 1993 closed its doors to submissions in 2010. Now thanks to the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomena they reopened in 2012.

Black Lace are currently holding a short story contest

The winning entry will be published by Black Lace Books as part of a forthcoming eBook collection. Entries must be approximately 4,000 words and submitted by 31 October

Black Lace although reprinting a lot of classic Black Lace novels are also finally open again to general submissions. http://www.blacklace.co.uk/index.php/Contact%20Us

Why does Lisa Whitefern  recommend Black Lace? They’ve been established since 1993. Their novels tend to be almost literary erotica. Very beautifully written (don’t let that put you off they have plenty of story too!) Black Lace is a cut above.

Originally Black Lace novels were all about the woman’s sexual journey. They were erotica as opposed to erotic romance the equivalent of sexual women’s fiction as opposed to a story of one man/one woman. This changed as erotic romance gained in popularity and Black Lace even started printing the words “erotic romance” on the spines of their novels as part of their marketing.

Currently though Black Lace editors say “There is room for both erotic romance and erotica on the list and while every book should have a satisfying ending we don’t insist on a conventionally happy one.”

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Hachette Book Group (including Grand Central Publishing) is one of the Big Six traditional publishers. Mostly you need an agent to submit your romance to Grand Central Publishing. However they have recently opened a Digital First Romance Imprint. Books over 50,000 will have a POD print option.

This imprint is called Forever Yours

Why does Lisa Whitefern recommend Forever Yours? In all honesty I am not sure how these digital first imprints the Big Six are all starting up are going to pan out in terms of sales for individual authors. These lines are too new for there to be any sales data available to the general public. I have a fear that sales could end up being pitiful for SOME authors. Although this can happen with any digital first epub, and depends on many factors.

However the fact is that Forever Yours  is linked to a traditional publisher. Here are the reasons Forever Yours recommends you submit your romance novel to them.

Forever Yours offers a complete publishing package: editing by Forever editors, top-notch cover design from the Forever art team, a dedicated publicist, Netgalley review copies for bloggers/reviewers, social media tools and training, targeted marketing and advertising budget, and an experienced digital sales team with long-standing relationships in the e-marketplace.

What are they looking for?

Genres: Forever Yours is currently accepting romance submissions from all subgenres, including but not limited to: contemporary, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, western, historical, inspirational, paranormal, sci-fi/fantasy, futuristic, urban fantasy, steam-punk, time-travel, and erotica. We are not accepting YA, mystery, general fiction, non-fiction, or poetry.

Word count: FY are accepting novella length works (8,000-35,000 words), as well as longer works from 35,000-100,000 words.

Forever Yours offer advances on projects over 35,000 words, 25% net digital royalties, and quarterly royalty accounting.

To read the blurb and an excerpt from my sexy paranormal menage Samhain Publishing click here  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/wicked-wonderland-p-7081.html

Authors Against Bullying— Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Bullying

(Check below my blog and excerpt for the other authors on the Authors Against Bullying Blog Hop.)

Last Christmas a special education professor named Dr. George Giuliani created a bit of a stir online when he accused the 1964 television special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” of promoting bullying.

Part of Giuliani’s argument was that the story of Rudolph suggests victims of bullying and people with disabilities must do something extraordinary if they want to expect the bullying to stop.
Well maybe Giuliani does have something of a point, however as a bullied child I found the song and story comforting, exciting and magical.

The way I saw the story- it was telling people who were picked on that they could surprise everyone someday with their achievements. That story of the underdog’s surprising achievements is as traditional and popular as the story of Cinderella, and as contemporary as Harry Potter.

When I wrote Wicked Wonderland I wanted to write an erotic romance with the magic and excitement of a children’s Christmas movie, and Wicked Wonderland is a re-telling of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the difference being that in my menage romance the heroine gets to fly around the world in Santa’s Sleigh with two very sexy half-fae men.

Here is an excerpt from Wicked Wonderland in which my heroine Lilly Rudolph is bullied.
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The icy December winds whipped around them, stinging Lilly’s face, but the night sky was clear and full of stars. The cold bit through her flimsy costume, and her teeth chattered audibly. Sonya stopped by the trash cans, holding Lilly tightly around the waist from behind. Kandy grabbed hold of the chiffon on the front of her angel costume. Lilly shook and twisted violently to try to break their grasp, and part of her angel costume tore. “Let go of me, you assholes!” She jabbed backward with her elbow, connecting with Sonya’s stomach, and heard the taller stripper gasp with momentary pain, but unfortunately, Sonya didn’t loosen her hold. “Oooooh! Rudolph’ll pay double for that!” Kandy exclaimed.

Lilly didn’t know why she did it. Maybe it was a way of dissociating from a horrible situation, maybe it was because her heart always ached to make music when she was in pain, but she began to hum, the sound starting low in her throat. She closed her eyes and played a flute in her head, filling her mind with a rich and clear melody, which, for a moment, took her right out of her nasty situation. Then a vicious pinch froze the sound in her lungs. Lilly twisted around enough to look up at Sonya. Something frightening had happened to Sonya’s face. It became very still, and the stripper’s eyes narrowed into slits that showed too much amber and almost no pupil, like the eyes of a snake or some other reptile. A sharp chill ran up Lilly’s spine.

“Don’t fucking hum.” Sonya spat out the words.

“Who cares if she hums? She’s just a weirdo,” Bambi interrupted. “I don’t care what she does as long as she doesn’t take our money again.” The words of the other stripper somehow returned everything to relative normality.

I must have been imaging the whole thing. Must have been the cold messing with my brain.

“You steal our tips, Rudolph, and I’ll give you a red nose, all right.” Sonya’s voice seemed inhuman in its rage. Fear swelled around Lilly like a choking fog. The tall stripper swung Lilly around like a toy, then pulled her fist back. Before Lilly could react, the fist connected with her nose. Shooting pain accompanied a sickening crack. Blood ran down her throat, tasting like metal, and all she could see was an ocean of red.

“Enjoy, Dumpster Girl!” Sonya tipped her upside down and slammed her headfirst into an empty trash can.
“Remember, Rudolph, you’ll never fit in anywhere. You’ll always be an outcast left out of all the reindeer games.” The other strippers convulsed with laughter.

(From Wicked Wonderland —you can add Wicked Wonderland to your Samhain wishlist)

Or you can pre-order Wicked Wonderland for your kindle
Official release date for Wicked Wonderland is December 4th.

© 2012 Lisa Whitefern

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