Monthly Archive for January, 2010

Tangled Web – Amazon vs Macmillan

I don’t normally comment on industry going on’s on my blog. I tend to keep my opinion to myself and chat with friends about the ramifications. But this one really had me shaking my head.

I woke up this morning and read the news that Amazon pulled all Macmillan books from their site over a price point dispute on Macmillan e-books. They pulled not just e-books, but all of them. If you haven’t heard about this yet, I recommend reading this article.

I work for a very large corporation in my day job (no I won’t mention the name here). I’ve seen a wide assortment of business decisions, corporate posturing, market jockeying, etc in the six years I’ve worked there. All businesses are out to make money. It’s the point of having one. You get your particular widget, make it the best widget you can and then you sell it. Now some companies don’t sell their products direct to consumers. They use a third party to do that. For example, cell phone companies typically sell their devices through a carrier, rather than invest in a storefront infrastructure to do so.

Publishers sell their books to bookstores (through distributors), who in turn sell to us. Yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part that’s how it works. Amazon didn’t like the idea of selling an e-book for their Kindle for $15. Now, the business side of me really can’t blame them. I will barely pay that for a mass market book. But Amazon’s reaction to Macmillan was way off base. Pulling every book is like shooting yourself in the foot.Take this example.

Let’s say I make a brand of pop called Super Duber Sugar Blast (obviously I’m not in marketing). I sell my product only to fast food restaurants. Now let’s say the biggest of those restaurants and I fight about what they are charging. Really, I would normally have negotiated via contract the price range I’d have wanted the restaurant to charge, but let’s pretend that didn’t happen. We fight, only for the restaurant to come back and say, “Hey, we are in charge of our prices, not you. We’re not selling any of your products in protest!”

Fine. I look across the street and see a competing fast food restaurant. I know they also sell my pop. I smile, nod and walk across the street.

Hello Barnes & Noble.

I’m sure Amazon will have Macmillan books back on the virtual shelves soon enough. They are still out to make a profit and have investors who will be breathing down their necks. What they have unfortunately done, is added another black mark on their records with consumers. After the yanking of the e-book fiasco, this erodes consumer confidence yet again. While the biggest game in town, Amazon isn’t the only one. The mighty have been known to fall on occasion.

For more perspectives on the events, I recommend you check out the following blogs:

Shiloh Walker

John Scalzi

Jackie Kessler

2010 Reboot

I’ve had an interesting start to my year. As some of you know, I’ve been sick for the past month. Not “hey I’ve had a bad flu” sick. More like “hey, this could kill you if you’re not careful” sick. The good news is that I’m on the mend. The bad news is I’ve had a lot of free time on my hands.

This shouldn’t be a problem.

I haven’t been able to write anything since this mess started. Understandably, my creativity has been sapped a bit. But what it has done, is given me time to think. Its helped me focus on what I want my year to be like going forward.

First off, I’m going to start taking care of myself better. That means listening to my body and not ignoring things when they’re not right. Yes, women tend to do this a lot, but I won’t anymore. I’ve also learned that bad things can happen to me. It’s funny, I never considered before that something could. I know that sounds naive, but really, who does. I’m not old, I thought I was healthy, why would I think bad things were about to happen. I now know that I’m not invincible and need to put myself first so I can be there for my family.

On the writing front, I’ve learned that if I want things to move forward, I need to make them happen. No more sitting around thinking I can’t get an agent, or a bigger contract, or write the book I always wanted, just because it’s hard. Of course its hard, and I might even fail. But one thing I know for certain, it will never happen if I don’t try.

So, I’ve decided to start 2010 over. I go back to my day job on Monday after having been on sick leave for a month. I’m also going to start writing again and get those queries out to agents. No, I won’t giver up after getting five rejections and think I’m a sucky writer.

Positive side of life. It’s a nice place to be.

:)

Cover for No Quarter!!!

OMG *drool*

When I’m not feeling good, there is nothing better than to receive something like this in my email. The edits are all done and we’re just waiting on a release date! I’ll keep everyone posted.

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Blurb:

When bounty hunter Gar Stitt is on the trail of his mark, everyone knows their days are numbered. When he is given a simple locate and retrieve mission, he’s convinced it is a waste of his skills.

There isn’t a more prolific space pirate in the galaxy than Captain Faolan Wolf. When he walks into a bar with a proposition heavy in mind, he’s not expecting anything to go wrong.

Forced from his solitary existence to work with Faolan, Gar can’t deny his attraction to a man who he should put in prison. When the hunter becomes the hunted, Gar must learn to put his faith in a man he doesn’t know, or run the risk of ending up dead.

Guest Blog – JK Coi and The Morning After

Hello!! JK Coi is in the house! (www.jkcoi.com)

Since Christine has gotten herself laid up in bed (and had better stay there until she’s better if she knows what’s good for her), I’ve hijacked her blog today to chat with you all and pimp my new release!! J

Do you want to know what I’ve done since the new year rolled around? Hah!! NOTHING! J

Although, that’s not entirely true. I haven’t started writing a new book. But I have returned to my exercise routine (YAY!) and I have finished writing the synopsis for the recently-finished novel. I have also done some critiquing for fellow writers and gotten a handle on my backlog of work at the day job. So I guess I’m not completely useless.

But the itch to start writing something new is there and it’s strong. I’m trying to ignore it for a little while longer, because I desperately need a bit of a break (even though the mind is willing, the body is weak—or something like that). The last five months have been CRAZY at the computer. Still, I don’t think I will be able to hold out much longer. For me, writing isn’t something I like to do in my spare time, it’s a gift that lives inside of me and if I don’t use it, I feel incomplete. (I know, check out the melodramatic writer.)

But to hold me over, I do have a new release to celebrate!!

The Morning After is out this month from Ellora’s Cave!

This story was a little different for me. It has no vampires, demons or immortals, and the hero and heroine aren’t caught in a life-or-death situation. Boring, you might ask? Absolutely not! The depth of emotion and level of electrifying heat between these characters was amazing and I LOVED writing it. I hope that you will all enjoy it too, and to whet your appetites I leave you with an excerpt:

Blurb:

Waking up naked in bed with a man’s arms holding you close wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing…except when that man is your husband.

Leslie has tried so hard to put Leo’s betrayal behind her—the ink was almost dry on the divorce papers. But when circumstances throw her in bed with her estranged husband one last explosive time, Leslie learns how quickly anger can turn to passion and hurt can turn to need, even while she knows there’s no way she can ever trust him again.

What Leslie considers goodbye, Leo insists is only the beginning. But the damage between them runs too deep, and sometimes, the only thing more devastating than the night before, is the morning after…

Excerpt:

Consciousness came slowly.

It started with a groan, a deep breath, and a fuzzy sense that all was not as it should be this bright new morning. Indeed, the fact that warm light penetrated her still-closed eyelids at all was worrisome, since her large bedroom windows should have been covered by the heavy, thick drapes she’d spent a small fortune to have custom made.

The sunshine wasn’t her only reason for coming to the conclusion that this morning would offer a few extra challenges. The relentless pounding in her temples, and her pasty, dry throat was also a pretty big clue.

Being buck naked beneath the soft cotton sheet was another.

However, the biggest and most compelling sign that Leslie Stevenson was in serious trouble on this particular morning came courtesy of the heavy, even breaths raising gooseflesh on the skin of her nape. The warm, wide chest pressed up against her back. The thickly muscled arm draped over her waist. The hand cupping the weight of her breast. Especially when her memory of just how the as-yet-unnamed—and very naked—man might have ended up in this bed with her was proving to be an elusive one.

Daring to open her eyes, Leslie bit back an oath as a fresh spike of pain knifed through her forehead to the back of her skull. She didn’t think she’d had that much to drink last night.

How did I get here? Why can’t I remember?

Lifting her arm, she moved to push her hair out of her face, but stilled suddenly as the hand around her breast…squeezed.

She held a harshly drawn breath, waiting nervously. Was her mystery bedmate awake then, or just a grabby sleeper? Could she somehow slip out of here without having to endure the awkward morning after, since it seemed she didn’t even have the benefit of memories from the night before to make said awkwardness worthwhile?

She shifted her hips and started a slow shuffle out from under him, but didn’t get very far. The arm tightened around her waist, pulling her back into the cradle of his solid, warm flesh. She gasped as bold evidence of a raging morning hard-on pressed intimately against her buttocks. The hand clutching her breast repositioned itself, a calloused thumb flicking across her nipple—which tightened beneath this stranger’s bold touch. Her body betrayed her, sending a sharp thrum of intensity to her belly until she wanted to thrust her hips back harder against his erection.

She groaned and shut her eyes tightly as his hips pushed forward, as his cock slid deeper into the crack of her ass. Damn. There should be at least some small nugget of memory to tell her how she’d gotten herself into this particular tight spot, but the details of last night weren’t becoming any clearer, even as soft lips dropped to the curve of her shoulder.

It shouldn’t feel this good. To be held. To be touched.

She remembered her determination to go to the ritzy nightclub last night. Kind of a test. She also remembered forcing her feet to cross the threshold, and then making her way to the bar on the other side of the dark room. She’d ordered a drink in an attempt to numb her scrambled nerves. Leslie and crowds certainly didn’t mix, but she’d been working so hard to overcome the irrational phobia that had made her feel like such a freak for so many years.

But last night she’d felt strong, even though her temples had ached and her fingers shook while she waited patiently for David. Then came the call on her cell phone to say that he was working late and couldn’t make it. And she remembered all her hard-won strength falling away, proving that it had been nothing but a flimsy mask. She had lurched up from the barstool, desperate to be gone from that place.

Until…

He appeared across the dance floor.

With a gasp, Leslie clutched the bed sheet to her chest in a tight fist. She twisted around and glared into the face of the last person she should find herself naked in bed with…

Her husband.

the morning after

Off To The Races – 2010 Goals

So far, the start of 2010 has been a bit rough. Nothing I can’t handle to be sure, but I’ll be happy when things settle. What it has done for me, is giving me the opportunity to think about what I want to accomplish this year on the writing front.

I normally set goals for myself in January, rather than do resolution thing. I don’t know why, but resolutions don’t pack the same punch for me. As I’ve been sitting on my couch, I’ve come up with a small list of things I’d like to get done this year with my writing.

Get an agent. I know this is like putting get published on your goal list, totally out of my control. However, I did put get published on my list one year and it actually happened. There’s more to it than simply wanting an agent. It means I have to ensure the manuscript I want to shop is ready (lots of editing work). I need to do my research on agents who I feel would not only be a great fit for my work, but someone I could work with on a business level. It also means I have to suck it up and actually query people. I did this for a bit last year, then chickened out. I have to change my mindset if I’m going to get an agent.

Write three novels. Anyone who knows me and my word count output shouldn’t be too surprised by this one. I can do it. However, I do want to change things up a bit. Two of them will be erotic romance novels, but I want the third to be another urban fantasy. Most likely it will be a follow up to the UF I just finished. I love that particular world and want to play some more there. So, it looks like I’m going to be busy.

Do more promotion. I’ve fallen off the PR wagon a little bit. Last year was very busy on a number of different fronts, and I had to drop a few of the extras I normally did. That included my newsletter and chats. This year, I’m planning on bringing my newsletter back and do a few more extras. Keep your eyes open. :) And if you don’t know by now, I’m crazy active on Twitter. You can all follow me there as Christine_dAbo.

Find a snoopy t-shirt that fits me. Seriously! Everyone I’ve ever come across is for kids or women with no boobs. And mine aren’t that big! I’ve bought two and have given each of them to my ten year old. I need this one people or I can’t in good consciousness say 2010 was a success. (EDIT: Yes, I did mean t-shirt. I guess that explains how I’m feeling right now LOL! Thanks Leah.)

That’s it! It may only be four goals, but they are big ones (especially snoopy). Do I think I can accomplish them? Of course! We’ll just have to see if the rest of the universe agrees with my plan.

Happy 2010 to everyone out there.

On the last two days of Christmas…

…Christine was sick and unable to get the last two stories up for you! Sorry about that everyone.

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The first story is from the talented Emma Petersen, called All I Want For Christmas. The final story is Wherever You Are by the sensational Amie Stuart.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and enjoying the stories.

On the tenth day of Christmas…

We are in the home stretch now everyone. Our tenth holiday story comes to you as a result of a little shuffling. I hope you enjoy Jackie Barbosa‘s story, Epiphany

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December 25th Anna Leigh Keaton – Christmas Spice
December 26th Lacy Danes – A Perfect Fit
December 27th Katie Allen – Best Santa Ever
December 28th Raine Weaver – Stroking Midnight
December 29th Amy Ruttan – Ghost of Christmas Second Chance
December 30th Christine D’Abo – Holiday Tradition
December 31st TJ Michaels – Three’s a Charm
January 1st Karen Erickson – Wicked Resolutions
January 2nd Alisha Rai – Light My Fire
January 3rd Amie Stuart
January 4th Emma Petersen
January 5th  Jackie BarbosaEpiphany

On the ninth day of Christmas…

I can’t believe how quickly the Christmas season is flying by. I’ll be taking my tree down tomorrow and doing a major clean up. But for today…another free story!

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Today’s story is by the talented Alisha Rai, titled Light My Fire. Enjoy!

December 25th Anna Leigh Keaton – Christmas Spice
December 26th Lacy Danes – A Perfect Fit
December 27th Katie Allen – Best Santa Ever
December 28th Raine Weaver – Stroking Midnight
December 29th Amy Ruttan – Ghost of Christmas Second Chance
December 30th Christine D’Abo – Holiday Tradition
December 31st TJ Michaels – Three’s a Charm
January 1st Karen Erickson – Wicked Resolutions
January 2nd Alisha Rai – Light My Fire
January 3rd Amie Stuart
January 4th Emma Petersen
January 5th Jackie Barbosa

On the eighth day of Christmas…

Happy New Year everyone!! I’ll be doing a post soon on my goals for 2010, but for now we have the eighth of our free holiday stories for you. Today’s story is Wicked Resolutions by Karen Erickson. I know you will enjoy this one.

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December 25th Anna Leigh Keaton – Christmas Spice
December 26th Lacy Danes – A Perfect Fit
December 27th Katie Allen – Best Santa Ever
December 28th Raine Weaver – Stroking Midnight
December 29th Amy Ruttan – Ghost of Christmas Second Chance
December 30th Christine D’Abo – Holiday Tradition
December 31st TJ Michaels – Three’s a Charm
January 1st Karen Erickson – Wicked Resolutions
January 2nd Alisha Rai
January 3rd Amie Stuart
January 4th Emma Petersen
January 5th Jackie Barbosa