Writer Wednesday - Ebyss

My world is crazy-busy right now, but for Writer Wednesday, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to Ebyss. She's not published (yet!) but she is agented and on submission. Congrats to Ebyss!

Ebyss has been a great writer-friend to me, and I am so excited for her. We all need to keep a watch out for her because her books are awesome. Yes, I've been privileged and honored to beta-read for her, and I can't wait for the rest of the world to read her brilliance!

Anyway, go check out her blog, and if you're a writer, especially, be sure to follow it. She's always featuring agents and other industry professionals and has lots of great contests with fabulous prizes.

That's all for today. I'm finalizing Devotion files and preparing for a really cool appearance next week. Have a happy hump day!

Oh, wait! One more thing. Check out the Facebook page if you haven't already. Lots of yumminess! You might want to grab a towel first to clean up the inevitable drool. While you're there, be sure to post your own version of Tristan to be entered to win an ebook of Devotion.

Teaser Tuesday

I'm often asked who I would cast as my characters, and it's a question I refuse to answer directly. For one, there isn't a single actor I'd choose for Alexis or Tristan or Owen. It's more like, "So-and-so's eyes but this other person's lips and this other one's nose and that one's body. But narrower (or wider or sharper or whatever)." They exist in my imagination, so there's not really one person out there who would be the perfect Tristan, Alexis or Owen.

Also, the image the reader conjures might be completely different than mine. I want the reader to envision her own "Mr. Beautiful," not be told what mine looks like. It's a more personal experience, I think, if readers are given some basics to start with (eye and hair color, body type, etc.) and then create their own hero and heroine from there.

Anyway, this is Teaser Tuesday not let's-get-philosophical-about-appearances, and boy, do I have a tease for you. It kind of goes along with the giveaway I'm doing on the Facebook page. Post a name or photo of who you would cast as Tristan and you could win an ebook of Devotion.

And although I won't give you a face, I will give you this to get your, uh, brain pumping. Yeah. Uh-huh. Right. Well, once you wipe the drool off your chin and keyboard, go find who you think fits Tristan and post it on the Facebook wall. Or, just sit here and stare. I don't care. But don't miss the excerpts below the beauty...

Um, no tattoo, but otherwise...Hello, Tristan in Devotion!

“I’m supposed to concentrate with you in that?” Tristan asked, his eyes traveling up and down my body. I couldn’t help it. I shivered.

“Ditto,” I muttered and forced myself to tear my eyes from his very bare, very lickable chest. 

***

I was never one who found guys in leather pants sexy, but Tristan changed my mind. At least, for him. The leather didn’t cling to him as it did me, but fit him like jeans, accentuating the curve of his perfect ass, but not in a porn-star kind of way.

I Did It & It Felt Awesome

Sometime in early 2011, I joined a host of other authors and pledged to donate $500 to First Book if any of my books made it to the Top 100 of ALL Kindle Paid Bestsellers List. Making it to that list - not a genre or category list but THE Top 100 - had been a dream at the time and I thought making a donation to such a worthy cause was/is a great way to show my appreciation. Thanks to all of you, it became a reality in October when Promise topped out at #54 of All.Kindle.Titles.

I just received my royalty check for that blow-out month at the end of December and this week, I did it. I made the donation! That might be the most amount of money I've ever given away at once. And it felt awesome. It still does. If you're not familiar with First Book, it's a great cause supporting literacy in the United States. Please check it out, and if you can, give.

With Devotion coming out in a few short weeks (eek!), I've been thinking of the next way I can pay it forward. Violence against women and children has always been a soft spot of mine, particularly because of family history that I won't go into. I've always said when I'm in a position to help, I will. Now I am. So here's the deal.

When any of my books reach the Top 100 of ALL Kindle Paid Bestsellers List, I'll donate $500 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which helps thousands of victims, survivors and their families who have suffered domestic violence. If more than one book makes it to the list, I'll donate $1,000 to this great cause.

So there you go. You heard it here. Now let's see if we can do it. You all did it before. You talked the books up. You spread the word. You helped raise that $500 for First Book. Let's do it again for The Hotline. We can do this!

Ready? Break!

P.S. THANK YOU!!!!!