Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
If You've Been Looking For A Sofia Harper Book...
You might be in for a very long wait. Like...long, long. But are you itching to read something I've written anyway?
Well...you're in luck. lol Go check out Melissa Blue. There's tons there. One book keeps bouncing up and down the Amazon top 100 list.
This one:
Did I also mention that it's free only for the next two weeks?
Pastry baker Emmaline Sharp is one business connection away from turning her bakery into something more than the dessert shop on the corner. She believes she’s found Mr. Right in cafĂ© owner Tobias Merchant. His Caff-aholic brand of freshly brewed coffee makes him the perfect partner. When she accepts a dare that thrusts her naked self into Tobias’ waiting arms, she jeopardizes her entire future. Emma will have to convince him to give her another chance, and somehow she'll just have to ignore the unexpected passion he ignites within her.
Tobias needs the connection with Emma’s bakery, Sweet Tooth, in order to liberate himself from the financial and emotional obligations of his past. Unfortunately, Emma's reckless behavior leaves him doubting she can be level-headed and business savvy. Every one of his instincts tells him to walk away, but she’s a temptation he can't seem to deny. He's inexplicably drawn to the lightness in her, especially when he knows just how dark the world can be. Against his better judgment, Tobias ignores his instincts and proceeds to form a partnership with Emma.
When their relationship shifts from business to personal, will Emma and Tobias be able to conquer their demons and find their sweet reward before the deal turns sour?
Amazon
B&N
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
Kobo
So...that's about it for right now. Will be back when I have any news on the other book, the one for Sofia. Or, if the mood to blog strikes me again. Have a good one.
Well...you're in luck. lol Go check out Melissa Blue. There's tons there. One book keeps bouncing up and down the Amazon top 100 list.
This one:
Did I also mention that it's free only for the next two weeks?
Pastry baker Emmaline Sharp is one business connection away from turning her bakery into something more than the dessert shop on the corner. She believes she’s found Mr. Right in cafĂ© owner Tobias Merchant. His Caff-aholic brand of freshly brewed coffee makes him the perfect partner. When she accepts a dare that thrusts her naked self into Tobias’ waiting arms, she jeopardizes her entire future. Emma will have to convince him to give her another chance, and somehow she'll just have to ignore the unexpected passion he ignites within her.
Tobias needs the connection with Emma’s bakery, Sweet Tooth, in order to liberate himself from the financial and emotional obligations of his past. Unfortunately, Emma's reckless behavior leaves him doubting she can be level-headed and business savvy. Every one of his instincts tells him to walk away, but she’s a temptation he can't seem to deny. He's inexplicably drawn to the lightness in her, especially when he knows just how dark the world can be. Against his better judgment, Tobias ignores his instincts and proceeds to form a partnership with Emma.
When their relationship shifts from business to personal, will Emma and Tobias be able to conquer their demons and find their sweet reward before the deal turns sour?
Amazon
B&N
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
Kobo
So...that's about it for right now. Will be back when I have any news on the other book, the one for Sofia. Or, if the mood to blog strikes me again. Have a good one.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Eons With No Word But I Came Back Bearing Puppy-Cuteness
First, you have to understand, I'm not an animal lover. Many
people will never come back to my blog after reading that opening line, but I
don't want to lie to you folks. This is a safe circle...a circle of honesty,
right? You should also understand I told my DD when she turned sixteen she
could have a dog. DD wants to be a vet
so having her own pet is her Mecca. She has yet to forgive me for the fish
massacre a while back. Long story. Moving on.

So, she comes to me one day and lets me know her best
friend's family is going to take the puppy to the pound. They already have two
dogs. A third is just too much. I have two children who I've already potty
trained. I did not like it. Not at all like Sam I Am who just hadn't tried it.
If you've never had to clean poop then consider yourself damn lucky. If you've
never been peed on, again, consider yourself lucky. I have and didn't want to
relive this experience. Plus, I remember as a kid the puppies we had and how
they whined.
It should come as no surprise, I said hell no.
Cue the long face for two days.
Now my DD doesn't do the long face. My son is the boy who
cried wolf. He wears it just because. In case he needs it for candy/staying
outside longer/just because. DD does not, but she wore it for two days straight
and I remembered seeing this puppy. I know of the gas chambers an unwanted
puppy will face.
I knew of all that I'd have to face if I took in said puppy.
So...I gave DD a twenty-four hour trial. She could see how
things played out for a day. See how things went when puppy whined and pooped
and peed on everything. How he'd eat everything and then throw it up because it
screwed with his stomach. I’d let her see the responsibility of puppy-rearing.
The early morning walks to take him outside so he wouldn't poop in the house.
The feedings. The whining. I was steadfast in my stance I wouldn't care one way
or another if this puppy ended up in the pound. I was not an animal lover.

Sigh. Touch my puppy and you will fucking die.
Say hi to Rocko. (Yes, as in Rocko's Modern Life.)
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
12:01 a.m. I'm Heading Into Insanity
I've always thought actors and writers have a lot in common,
despite the forms in which they play in. We are both donning on a personality,
a world that is not our own. It takes a certain kind of preparation and with
every actor, with every writer there's a different degree in which they go.
I'm about to head into NaNo and that means pounding out 50k
in 30 days. That's 1667 words a day. Nothing in the scheme of things for me.
When I'm really on a roll I can knock out 3k a day. But the thing that makes it
uncertain is that I have to be in the world I'm writing. I have to know the
characters skin I'm slipping into. How they see the world and the words they'll
use to describe it. I have to know where the story will end up. This last is
the most important. If I don't know what I'm writing to I don't know why I'm
writing. I don't have tunnel vision and that's makes the difference of skating
with 100 words in a 24 hour period and being able to easily get down 3k.
That's why NaNo is insanity. It's making a personal promise,
for the world to see, that I'm going to figure out that ending. I'm going to
complete a full story filled with plot and characters and something that gives
me a workable start. Because first drafts are a workable start. At least for
me.
So, I'm listening to Sail by Awolnation on repeat. I'll
probably head to my Pinterest to get some pics to see the world that gives me a
bit of a guide.
But really, I'm heading into the land of insanity.
Wish me luck. Hopefully, I can regain my sanity December 1st.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Equality is Sexy
I've been writing paranormals lately. It's not surprising
that in the two I've written this year, power is discussed and in some part at
the heart of the conflict. If you strip away the paranormal aspect of the
world, I think power is still a huge thing to consider when writing a romance.
One side simply can't have it all. At least for the romance to work for me.
And this brings me to something that might get my ass reamed
later. This need for equality is why I've had trouble getting into BDSM. It's
not the kink that stands in my way of glutting on this genre. It's how power
often comes across uneven for me. Hell, it's partly why I have trouble with
Presents and any story that features an Alpha, whether it's the man or the
woman. Because a big part of what sells of on the HFN or the HEA is that I have
to see the couple still together in the future. When there's an imbalance of
power, or one party gives or takes more than the other, I'll see how that wears
on the relationship. At some point, one party won't have much left to give or
take, and that in itself leaves me cold.
Maybe it comes down to a core belief within myself that
relationships have to have clear boundaries and still be flexible. I seek that
same belief in the romances I choose to read. The BDSMs and clear Alpha-type
stories that work for me have that.
Yes, many people are absolutely disgusted with the romance
between Mac and Barrons. And you want to talk about a huge imbalance of
power...Yeah. The Fever series has that in spades. Whenever I think about what
sold that romance for me s probably one of the most controversial aspect of the
story. It's when
SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mac becomes priya and Barrons uses his dick to save her from
it. No question about it, Barrons finally got his hands, mouth...ok. He finally
slept with Mac. It was completely consensual for the mindless sex-bot Mac had
become, but not for the Mac in books 1-4. Barrons completely held all the power
in those scenes. Yet, it was completely clear to me, if Mac had been in her
right mind, Barrons wouldn't have done what he'd done. Throughout the entire
series, he didn't push back against this boundary in a way he totally could
have. He respected that boundary.
There's an internal line for me, because the Alpha-type
romance definitely has a I'm doing this for your own good and you so want it
too thing going for it. And for me, I need to see, I need to believe there's a
clear, CLEAR line that even the Alpha won't cross. They won't cross it because
the other person in the relationship matters to them. It's about power, but
it's about respect. It's about equality in the relationship.
And, I can say that above all things is sexy as fuck.
Labels:
Alphas,
Barrons,
BDSM,
book talk,
favorite books,
Fever Series,
HEA,
HFN,
Karen Marie Moning,
Mac,
paranormals
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Untouchable: The Preview
*blows dust off blog* Wow. Well, let me just say I'm not dead, I've been writing. http://pinterest.com/sofiaharper/untouchable/ <----That's part of what the story looks like if I could tell it in pictures.
And it's so out of my comfort zone. I don't write paranormal. I've written some but up until this book have only completed one other. A YA paranormal at that. Yeah, I could type until my fingers bled on a contemporary romance. Paranormals are another animal. No pun intended.
So, that's why I've been silent and all introverted. But what's the point of this post? Brain gibberish. I've finished the book. YAY! I'll get started on my last revisions of The One I Want (a contemporary romance. YAY!) It's a friends to lovers story. It's something I'll bribe give my editor whenever we're done with A Hot Dose of Trouble.
So, if you don't hear from me in a month or so...I'm revising this book ----> http://pinterest.com/sofiaharper/the-one-i-want/
And it's so out of my comfort zone. I don't write paranormal. I've written some but up until this book have only completed one other. A YA paranormal at that. Yeah, I could type until my fingers bled on a contemporary romance. Paranormals are another animal. No pun intended.
So, that's why I've been silent and all introverted. But what's the point of this post? Brain gibberish. I've finished the book. YAY! I'll get started on my last revisions of The One I Want (a contemporary romance. YAY!) It's a friends to lovers story. It's something I'll bribe give my editor whenever we're done with A Hot Dose of Trouble.
So, if you don't hear from me in a month or so...I'm revising this book ----> http://pinterest.com/sofiaharper/the-one-i-want/
Monday, July 16, 2012
Flummoxed About The Opinion on Editors
I'm confused about some of the latest rumblings regarding
the need for editors and what it is an editor should and shouldn't do. Trust
your story is being thrown around. Don't let anyone mess with your vision of
what the story should be. The last thing an editor should do is give
suggestions on how to better your story.
/rant
But to what extent are you talking? There are plotlines or
jokes or characters that make sense in your head, that you believe needs to be
on the page. Yet when you send that story out and get back comments varying
from Huh? to WTF? Maybe, just maybe, your instincts were wrong. If not
completely wrong, what happened between your head and the page missed the mark.
Yet, some people are saying developmental editors are useless?
Then what are crit partners and beta readers? They are doing the same thing
except without pay or working on a bartering system. Just like there are some
bad crit partners and beta readers, there are some bad developmental editors. Does
that make them unnecessary? No.
And to say giving suggestions is the last thing an editor
(crit partner or beta reader) should do is beyond my reasoning. When an edtior,
crit partner or beta reader points out a sentence and tells you something is
confusing, this might clear it up and, gasp, God forbid rewrite your precious
words... Heresy! Or tell you, hey, your beginning moves slower than molasses.
Maybe if you start it here it'll read better or the pacing is on point here.
Gasp. Heresy! If I'm paying someone $1,000-3000, I better damn well see some
suggestions other than “This needs more here.” (<---This has made every
single author I know scream with frustration. More what?)
What's really making me rant about this unimportant
contention in the first place? When you give this kind of advice you're not
telling the writer who has been writing for a few years. The veteran writer has
been around long enough to know they need someone else to go over their work.
They may know something is wrong with the beginning but not necessarily what's
wrong with it and they should get someone else to read the book. They know
what's in their head may not always end up on the page. Or what does end up on
the page and still misses the mark.
You're telling a newbie writer. How in the hell can they
know what they don't know? How can you tell them to have instincts and belief
they haven't honed yet for themselves? While handing out this blanket statement
are you bothering to explain what it is crit partners and beta readers do? The
signs that you're being pigheaded about a story element and when the CP or BR
are dead wrong? You're doing your readers, who are more than likely newbie
writers, a disservice and throwing an entire profession under the bus.
Nope. No one will ever know your story like you know your
story. Sometimes that's part of the problem and why you're sending the story to
an editor, crit partner or beta reader in the first place.
What do you think an editor, crit partner or beta should and
shouldn't do?
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