Day 12 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 12 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Terry Tyler and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Terry and her book Full Circle.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

I’m not a writer of romances as such, but my books all feature love relationships as fairly central themes – because who-ends-up-with-who is always, for me, one of the most important bits of a book! In my novels, I make my characters’ relationships as realistic as possible, because I like to write and to read about people who could actually exist, rather than idealistic heroes and heroines. I think it’s important to relate characters’ relationships to today’s men and women; for instance, it is not very often, these days, that people fall in love with someone in their teens and stay with them forever – everyone has so many more opportunities and experiences now, so we carry on changing and are attracted to different people at different stages in our lives. I like to write about people to whom my readers can really relate!

Biography

Terry Tyler’s first book on Amazon, You Wish, was the winner of the ‘Best Women’s Lit/Chick Lit’ category in the eFestival of Words 2013.

Terry lives in the north of England with her husband. She has six novels on Amazon, all of which she describes as the all-encompassing “contemporary fiction” because, despite the eFestival of Words win, she can’t work out what genre she writes in. If you like reading about love triangles, secret affairs, obsessions, addiction and family relationships, with a little bit of internet dating, social networking and reality TV thrown in, all with delightfully unguessable plot twists, then she’s probably the writer for you!

She has a blog on which she writes about anything she feels like, and also writes for the UK Arts Directory on a weekly basis, about self-publishing. Both blogs are widely read.

She will be publishing a collection of short stories later in the year, and is currently working on her seventh novel, which she is firmly convinced will be her best yet. Probably. Watch this space!

Full Circle

Publication Date: April 11, 2013

FULL CIRCLE
Terry Tyler

FULL CIRCLE is the sequel to Terry Tyler’s fourth novel, DREAM ON, but can be enjoyed as a stand alone work. It’s a tale of love triangles, infidelity, an English rock band, the lure of celebrity, and the destructive nature of alcohol addiction. FULL CIRCLE ~ love, sex and marriage, rock music and secret affairs, with a few laughs along the way!

***

Two years have passed since we left Dave, Ariel, Janice and Shane at the end of DREAM ON.

ARIEL thought her hard work and perseverance had been rewarded when she met record producer Theo Perlmutter ~ then a tragic event turned her dreams to dust.

Newly married JANICE was happier than she’d ever been ~ but the honeymoon ended when born again alcoholic husband Max careered off the wagon and into the nearest bar.

Being forced onto The Jeremy Kyle Show in DREAM ON was not enough to make ladies’ man SHANE learn his lesson – will his philandering ways eventually catch up with him?

Rock band THOR has risen from the ashes…

… but DAVE is unhappy, trapped in a domestic situation not of his choosing.

Will there be a happy ending for any of them?

Go over and check Terry Tyler out…

Here’s a link to Rosie’s side of the blog tour: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2qq

Day 11 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 11 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Swarupa N Ovalekar and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Swarupa and her book The Blue Eyed Prince Of Natlife.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

“As a first-time romance book writer, my biggest challenge was creating a story with an interesting, sexy and emotional touch. I wanted my readers to identify themselves with the characters…to lead them to a fantasy land where they can fall in love with my novel’s hero or heroine and forget their stressful existence for a while.

In my e-book, The Blue-Eyed Prince of Natlife, although “sparks fly between the hero and the heroine” from the time they first meet, there is a strong play of emotional tenderness and physical chemistry between the two. This is what romance book readers love to experience and this is exactly what I want to give them.

All said and done, once my manuscript was complete, I went for digital self-publishing having full faith in my writing. Getting recognition for their work is every writer’s greatest dream and I’m no exception to it. Still, if I’m able to stir feelings of passion within my readers, trapped in their tiresome routine, I know I have done a great job!”

Biography

Intrepid traveller, polyglot and author of the Epic 3-Book Series on Mexico (“Discovering MEXICO”, “MEXICO: The Country, Its History And The Maya World” and “A Guide To Mexican Cuisine”) and the romance fiction novel, “The Blue-Eyed Prince Of Natlife”.
Besides that, I am a passionate foodie, a huge fan of salsa and ballroom dancing, a great lover of world history & culture, cosmology and more…

A girl from Mexico City comes to Mumbai, discovers the joys of caring and sharing in a large house with seven other international trainees and falls in love with her suave Indian boss.

26-year old Mexican, Sara Velasquez, is the new international trainee at the corporate office of one of India’s top multinational companies, Natlife. Her blonde hair and good looks have always made most men treat her with benign condescension, unwilling to accept her managerial abilities. Experience has taught her not to trust men for this reason, but her tall and handsome Indian boss, the 27-year old blue-eyed Sid Oberoi, is different. He doesn’t question her intelligence only her impulsive nature. She finds herself battling a deep and irresistible attraction between them only to succumb to it whole-heartedly.

A past incident has shattered Sid’s trust in women. Whenever his girlfriends get too close or serious, he bolts. He’s not interested in commitment. So why does he harbour strong, unfamiliar feelings for the feisty Mexican? On learning about the bitter experiences of her past, he’s determined to ensure that she doesn’t get hurt again. Why does he feel so protective about her?

When misfortune strikes, it brings them both closer than ever. Sid offers her a job in his new business and room in his house. But, is he ready to offer her a place in his heart?

Go over to Swarupa’s site at http://thegr8wall.wordpress.com/

Go over to Rosie’s site to check out her side: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/romancing-september-tour/

Walking and Talking at same time…Bad Idea :)

Well, if you follow this blog you realize from my picture that I’m blonde. The problem with being blonde is the ever coming jokes and I always get “Can you walk, talk and chew gum at the same time?” I always laugh and say, “Yep, but don’t get near me because you’ll get run over.”

Found out yesterday how true this statement is. I was doing my 5 mile walk that I do 3 days a week. As we were walking up the road, a car started to pass us and I stepped off the pavement. Well, more accurately I fell off the pavement. I now have the strained ankle and bruised knee to prove it. I was walk, talking and not paying attention to where I was stepping. Not a good thing. Good thing I have a complete physical planned for in the morning. Please pray that goes well. Not looking forward to it, but it’s a necessity.

As for writing, you have to be able to do several things at one time. Multi tasking is a must as a writer, especially if you hold down a full time job and family. Usually my writing is completed while getting up and down to do laundry, cooking dinner, and just life in general.

I’ve learned a lot about time and how to fit in everything somehow. Of course then you have your blog posting, in my case 2 blogs, Facebook, Twitter and the myriad of other author promotional posts I do on a daily basis. Someone came up to me one day and said, wow, if you become a full time writer, you’ll be set. Well, I’ll be set in some ways, but their meaning was I’d have a lot of free time. I don’t think that’s possible. A writer’s mind is like a spinning wheel. The ideas and characters are constantly spinning around, so if I did this full time, I figure I’d sit writing most of the time.

Life’s short, live every moment and enjoy the little things. That’s my advice for the day. Oh, and don’t walk and talk at the same time. You’ll feel the results the next day, believe me.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Day 10 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 10 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Annie Acorn and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Annie and her book A Man For Susan.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

What an interesting question! From my perspective, the biggest challenge isn’t in the writing of the romance. I imagine writing a quality romance that will spark a readers’ imagination is much the same today as it was for Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer – two of the early greats. One could make a case that there are more subgenres today, ranging from sweet to erotic, but once you’ve identified your genre, then all you have to do as an author is stay true to your choice and your readers’ expectations. Oh, and write a really great story!

The real challenge for romance writers today is the marketing. Major outlets for romances such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iTunes vary widely in the categories they offer to indies and publishers such as Annie Acorn Publishing LLC. This can mean that while you as an author are secure in how you would categorize your work, it may prove to be difficult to denote this to possible readers as they search for your masterpiece on these venues’ websites.

Two other marketing challenges are also making it much harder to achieve real success with a romance, particularly a stand alone volume as opposed to a sequential work in a series.

The first is the sheer number of romances that are now available in the marketplace. Here’s an example, when I published my cozy mystery Chocolate Can Kill, if you searched under Nook books/mysteries/women’s sleuths on the Barnes and Noble website, you would have found approximately 190 pages of volumes from which to choose. When A Man for Susan was published as a romance just a little over a year later, a similar search would have provided a possible reader with over 1200 pages of volumes from which to choose. The pages for Chocolate Can Kill had risen to 236. The mystery genre is not tiny, but the romance genre is HUGE!

The second is the advent of free books for ereaders. I have several friends who read romances almost exclusively. They have individually shared with me that my Captain’s Point Stories romances are the ONLY ONES they have paid for since the advent of free offerings, and they did so only because they knew me personally. True, they tell me, these free books often include erotica they don’t want, bad edits, poor storylines and fewer total pages, but they are willing to sort through the chaff to reach the wheat when the books are free.

As an author, I am deeply concerned about the trend towards free books. Because I was eating, sleeping, indeed living in Captain’s Point in my head while writing A Man for Susan, Juliette and I were able to bring it to publication in a little over two months, thanks to her additions to the text and copyediting along as I wrote. Still, even though I was running on 3-4 hours sleep per night much of time, it took the two of us a fair amount of time working all out in multiple directions to bring a quality, full-length volume to publication.

Biography

Annie Acorn is the pseudonym of a prolific, internationally published author, whose readership recognizes her mainly for her women’s fiction, cozy mysteries and richly woven stories with a warm southern flair. She writes her romantic women’s fiction/family saga Captain’s Point series as Charlotte Kent. She is a founding member of From Women’s Pens – A Cooperative of Women Writers.

Annie is the mother of two sons, one of whom is married to the best daughter-in-law in the world. She lives in the Washington, D.C. area, where she has done extensive technical writing as a contractor.

She owned a tri-state medical outsourcing business for a number of years and was the Director of a behavioral healthcare firm. She once flipped a comic book and collectible retail company comprised of five stores, and she has managed cemeteries and funeral homes. She is the owner of Annie Acorn Publishing LLC.

Ms. Acorn has published in The Inspirational Writer, and she edited an in-house publication for the State of Mississippi. She is a contributor of ezine articles.

In her spare time, Ms. Acorn enjoys reading, writing mysteries, listening to classical music, playing cards, and spending time with her family and friends – often at a restaurant serving delicious food.

Annie is the author of the blog at annieacorn.com. You can friend her on Facebook and tweet her at Annie_Acorn. She will respond to your email sent to annieacorn11@gmail.com.

A Man For Susan

Publication Date: June 16, 2013

The second novel in the women’s fiction series Captain’s Point Stories, A Man for Susan, written by multi-published, internationally known From Women’s Pens authors Annie Acorn and Juliette Hill under the pseudonym Charlotte Kent, offers the reader romance, humor, and adventure in a story of love and personal growth.

Newly married, Adrianna Montgomery Sheffield feels the need to pay forward the happiness she has found with her Chase, determining that her mission will be to find a man for his law partner, Susan. Recognizing her friend as a beautiful woman inside and out, Adrianna believes the task to be an easy one, but soon realizes the depths of the challenge she has set for herself. Will Susan find the strength to open her heart to the tall, dark stranger who has recently moved to their small town, allowing both of them an opportunity for healing and true love?

Don’t miss this chance to fall in love again!

Check out Annie’s books.

Here’s a link to Rosie’s side of the blog: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2sD

Day 9 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 9 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Juliette Hill and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Juliette and her book A Clue For Adrianna.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

My biggest challenge writing romance in today’s society is that the category of romance has so many subcategories—contemporary romantic fiction, being quite large. The competition is fierce! I think another big challenge is satisfying your market of readers. I truly believe writers should always stay true to themselves and their message and not change just because an audience/readership would prefer something else at a particular moment in time. I believe as long as you write a good story, readers will buy it and read it.

Biography

Charlotte Kent is the pseudonym used by Annie Acorn and Juliette Hill when writing their collaborative romantic women’s fiction series Captain’s Point Stories. Annie Acorn Annie Acorn is the pseudonym of a prolific, internationally published author, whose readership recognizes her mainly for her women’s fiction, cozy mysteries and richly woven stories with a warm southern flair. She is a founding member of From Women’s Pens – A Cooperative of Women Writers. Annie is the mother of two sons, one of whom is married to the best daughter-in-law in the world. She lives in the Washington, D.C. area, where she has done extensive technical writing as a contractor. She owned a tri-state medical outsourcing business for a number of years and was the Director of a behavioral healthcare firm. She once flipped a comic book and collectible retail company comprised of five stores, and she has managed cemeteries and funeral homes. She is the owner of Annie Acorn Publishing LLC. Ms. Acorn has published in The Inspirational Writer, and she edited an in-house publication for the State of Mississippi. She is a contributor of ezine articles. In her spare time, Ms. Acorn enjoys reading, writing mysteries, listening to classical music, playing cards, and spending time with her family and friends – often at a restaurant serving delicious food. Annie is the author of the blog at annieacorn.com. You can friend her on Facebook and tweet her at Annie_Acorn. She will respond to your email sent to annieacorn11@gmail.com. Juliette Hill Juliette Hill is the pseudonym for a creative writer who is passionate about all things vintage, traveling with her husband and exploring family history. She enjoys treasure hunting at local antique markets and estate sales, searching for her next great ‘find’ that will spark her imagination. Her desire to discover the story behind each treasure motivates the writer within. Juliette’s other interests include planning family gatherings, scrapbooking, cooking, shopping and dining out, to name a few. Her works, including Pink Lemonade Diary, Christmas Shoppe Magic, The Christmas Spirit of Starlight Cove, and Two Beaux for Christmas involve multi-dimensional characters and generational plots which bridge the gap between the past and present. She is a founding member of From Women’s Pens and is currently working on several projects for Annie Acorn Publishing LLC.

A Clue For Adrianna

Publication Date: April 13, 2013

The first novel in the women’s fiction series Captain’s Point Stories, A Clue for Adrianna, written by multi-published, internationally known From Women’s Pens authors Annie Acorn and Juliette Hill under the pseudonym Charlotte Kent, offers the reader romance, humor, and adventure in a story of love and personal growth.
Forced to return to her ancestral home in Captain’s Point, a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Adrianna Montgomery receives a shock and a challenge when the terms of her great-aunt’s will are read. Faced with a haughty attorney, a crumbling old house and a clue, she must draw upon the resources found in those around her as well as her own inner strengths in order to solve the riddle and secure her inheritance. Accepting the challenge, she ultimately learns who she is destined to be and discovers her true love.
Don’t miss this chance to fall in love again!

Go on over and check out A Clue for Adrianna.

Here’s a link to Rosie’s side of the tour: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2sv

Day 7 of The Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 7 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Olivia Stocum and I want to send out a big thanks to her for joining me today. Here is a little about Olivia and her book Dawning.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

The greatest challenge . . . I write historical romance, and I tend to sway more toward the Hero who, while he may be a warrior, would never beat or force himself in any way on a woman. Some authors will include this sort of violence in their historical romances claiming that it makes it more realistic. But I just don’t see where it’s necessary. I recently read a Regency Romance where the hero grabbed the heroine and shook her, not once, not twice, but three times. And she never lifted a finger to defend herself, and even fell in love with him. Huh? I just don’t get it. I have, and will probably continue, to take flack from historical purists, but I just can’t have my heroine fall for a guy who is so alpha male that he has to resort toward violence against her. (OK, that said, ‘Dawning’ involves an alpha male character, but my heroine is not falling for his crap, and he is forced to make a permanent change because of it).

So , how does this tie in to the original question?

Easy. Today’s woman doesn’t, and should never, put up with alpha male violence. EVER.

Biography

Olivia Stocum lives in upstate New York with her husband, three children, and their Jack Russell Terror (oh, sorry, Terrier). She has been writing since she was first published at eight years old. The majority of her childhood was spent riding horses, playing with her dog, shooting her favorite recurve bow, and going on imaginary adventures with Robin Hood. One day she might even decide to grow up (but probably not). Contact Olivia at: http://www.theclaymoreandsurcoat.com http://www.facebook.com/OliviaStocum

Dawning

Back cover:

Scotland, 1599 . . . He abandoned her. She had failed to be enough for him. The empty space he left behind hollowed out her heart, and she wondered what to do with the rest of her life.

When Ronan leaves the clan to seek his fortune, Triona MacAlastair fears she will never see him again. Four years later, a threat against her life forces her to depend on a mysterious, cloaked rogue known as Blackhawk.

She knows he is capable of protecting her, but what is he hiding? Why does he refuse to show his face?

Amazon Link:ndone http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYSM6DO

Go on over and check out Olivia’s book “Dawning”

Thanks again Olivia for joining me this morning.

Here’s the link to Rosie’s side of the tour:

http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2qK

Day 6 of Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 6 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Briana Vedsted and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Briana and her book The Untold Story of Margaret Hearst, alias Maugrim Valletta.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

The biggest challenge for me is to keep my work ‘clean’. I write for young adults, meaning that kids as young (or even younger!) than twelve years old can be exposed to my work. I enjoy writing love stories, but I want them to be the kind of books that could be read aloud to young children and not be offensive to anyone. I write the books I wish could be available to all young readers, the books that I wouldn’t mind if my kids read. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against real romance novels, but for me, there’s no way I could even begin to write that way. The schooling I received since kindergarten was very Christian-based, and I’d want my advisers to be able to read my books without me worrying that they’d see the content as inappropriate.

Let’s Meet Briana!

Biography

Briana Vedsted lives in the country, on a ranch operated by my parents. For the past six years she has been employed by her father, Rob, working cows and irrigating his three hundred acre farm. Having grown up in a farming community, Briana has a deep appreciation for the nearby Indian ruins and all the Old West history. She’s a big fan of Louis Lamoure books and John Wayne movies. The smell of pine and aspen trees, trips to the mountains on horseback, and her highly imaginative daydreams inspired her to write western books. Briana’s love of magic and mystery, such as the movies Eragon and Brave, and books like Twilight and The Kane Chronicles, as well as a family history that includes the first King of Wessex, England and many princesses, knights, kings, lords, and even a saint, has really has influenced her yet-to-be-published fantasy books.
Two years ago Briana began focusing her attention on trying to get one of her books published. Briana mainly write books for middle grade, teens, and young adults.

About the Book The Untold Story of Margaret Hearst, alias Maugrim Valletta.

Daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the county, sophisticated Miss Margaret Hearst meets a young thief who steals her heart. Her parents forbid Margaret to ever see the boy again, but she runs away with him. Unbeknownst to Margaret, she is being followed by a man she’s known all her life: LJ Steffen. LJ loves Margaret and fears for her safety; he is determined to win Margaret’s heart. And one day, Margaret’s boyfriend casts her out of his life and she nearly dies, will LJ arrive in time to save her? And if he does, will Margaret finally love him back, even though she’s disregarded his feelings for her for the past several years?

So, go over to check out Briana Vedsted on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Untold-Margaret-Hearst-Maugrim-Valletta/dp/1482004739

Here’s a link to Rosie’s side of the tour today:

http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2qc

The Editing Process – What?

Well, I’ve been busy with the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour that has been going on since September 1st along with my friend Rosie Amber. It’s been pretty awesome to say the least. The 30 authors in the lineup are great and everyone needs to go over and check them out.

As for my writing, well let’s just say it’s been an interesting couple of weeks. As you may remember I had slated for Victoria to be released on September 15th, well it’s actually going to be September 30th. I had a issue with, dare I say, Editing 🙂

When I’m writing I normally step back every so many pages and reread that section. It’s just a habit I have and it keeps me focused on the work ahead and what was behind me. Well, this one, somewhere around the middle I got so into the writing that I shirked that habit and kept on writing. Not good…

While I was doing my first edit I did my usual spell check to start with. As I meandered down the list of the usual extra spaces and misspelled words, I found almost a whole paragraph of just random letters. I was perplexed for a moment, then as I read the paragraph above and below I remembered that section was from one of my late night writing sessions. Guess I was writing and not actually looking at my work. I’m bad about that when I’m really into it. Not a good habit.

Well, Spellcheck was complete and I began to read the story. I had the usual things to change like wording that when read again did not quite work and scene issues. Then I ran up on a funny little mishap. For some reason my character Victoria had suddenly gotten electricity in her home, keep in mind this book is based during the Civil War, no electricity in this home. But sure enough, she flipped on the light switch. I did a double take on that one. Then I laughed hysterically, it had been a long day, at my goof. She should have lit a lantern, not flipped on the light switch. Really, she was the first to have electricity in her home, no not really.

As I’ve stated in several of my blogs, editing is a must. If I’d have not edited and sent that out, well let’s just say, it might have gathered a few sarcastic reviews. Editing is a tedious process, but if you do it while writing and then as soon as you finish it’s an easier task.

So, learn from my goof ups, edit, edit, edit. Oh, and then edit some more.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

Here’s a couple of links to check out:

http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2t6 Day 5 of our blog tour from Rosie

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/353698

Day 5 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 5 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Robynn Gabel. A big thanks to Robynn Gabel for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Robynn and her book Windswept Hearts.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

Having started my writing career later in life, I realize I may not be in touch with today’s younger generation. The taboos of my early years, may not apply in this day and age. For a writer to be successful we must take in the current trends, even if we may not like them. Morals have shifted, social settings have changed, and language is always evolving.

So first you must set what age group you are trying to reach, the era you want to write in. As a first time author I knew I had to write about something I knew about. It would have been easier to set it in a historical era that would have gone along with my comfort zone, but I knew more about the western culture I live in so I chose a more comfortable route. With any good story there is research, even if you live in it. Historical romance takes more research time than it does to actually write the book. I know this because I’ve been studying the Viking age for years, hoping to write a romance in that time period. But to test the waters, I chose to write a contemporary western romance, Windswept Hearts.

Then there are the questions, how far do I take the interpersonal romance? How much physical intimacy? I had to decide again who I was trying to reach. I also had to decide what I was comfortable writing. What level of erotica would I include? Ultimately, that was decided by my characters personalities, belief systems and age group. It is tempting to jump on the newest trend, but I have found it is my characters and the story they have to tell that determines what I will write.

Ultimately, I feel the genre of romance is a smorgasbord of choices, which gives me the greatest field of creativity. My only challenge is writing well enough to capture my readers interest and hold them captive until the end of the story.

Biography

When Robynn Gabel was a little girl, her mother was in despair over the tall tales she would come up with. Her mother would scold her saying, “I hope you can put that over-active imagination of yours to good use someday.!” So she decided to be an obedient daughter and follow her mother’s advice.

Robynn’s love of literature began with Dr. Seuss and hasn’t ever stopped. With the advent of the Internet she is never at loss for material. Through the years Robynn wrote extensively for business, blindly producing proposals, letters, advertising, convention fliers, and promotion material.

Several years ago, Robynn was talked into becoming the editor and producer of the church newsletter. During a search for material she ran across an ad for the Christian Writer’s Guild Convention in Colorado Springs. On a whim, she went and ended up sitting next to a publishing agent for Christian romances. After a nice chat Robynn was asked if she had any material. Amazed that someone thought she might be a writer, it ignited the fire that had been smoldering since high school. She signed up for a two year, on-line course through the Guild.

Since then, it has been a journey equal to that of any of J.R. Tolkien’s characters. She learned to blog, format, edit, Facebook, and Tweet. She has an interest in several genre’s but for now she wrote about the world she knows best, Romance.

Windswept Hearts is now available here on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback. Set in the contemporary west, it chronicles the struggles of a city girl who has inherited a very unwanted cattle ranch. Robynn is currently working on several other projects including a paranormal story involving the mysteries of autism, and a history romance set in the Viking era.

Robynn would be happy to chat and answer any questions you might have. She looks forward to continuing in this amazing journey of creating stories and hope you want to come along with her!

Windswept Hearts

Publication Date: January 1, 2013

Anna Sanchez, a recent college graduate, has inherited the family cattle ranch. Having promised her mother she would take care of it, she is now faced with a tough choice. She is a city girl, and running a cattle business certainly isn’t in her plans. A lot of repairs need to be done and she hires Steve Johnson, a local handyman. Their first encounter leaves them both at a disadvantage. Through the summer’s adventures, including a wildlife encounter that turns deadly, and a shadow from her past, Anna will learn that things don’t always go according to even the most organized aspirations.

Go on over and check out Robynn’s Books

Here’s a link to the other side of the tour over at Rosie’s page:

http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2t6

Day 4 of The Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 4 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Erica Dakin. A big thanks to Erica Dakin for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Erica and her book The Conspiracy.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

I like the question! I think for me there are a few aspects to the challenge, but I think what it in essence boils down to is to avoid writing something that’s too cliche, yet remains believable. The staple romances of the seventies and eighties all had barely adult heroines who were impossibly naive, and heroes who were in their mid-thirties and arrogant to their toenails. They started off hating each other, yet somehow this then suddenly turned to love without any apparent motivation or believability. These days the discerning reader doesn’t accept that anymore, so as an author you have to play around with the tropes and twist them enough that the book remains interesting yet doesn’t lose the essence of Romance. I think it is also more difficult to get away with a dominant, alpha-male hero, because readers want their heroines to be strong, not submissive. It’s a fine line to tread!

Biography

I was born in the Netherlands and lived there until age 25, when I moved to Great Britain to be with my boyfriend. I married him in 2006 and have never regretted the move or the marriage.
I have always been an anglophile and started learning English when I was ten. I began writing short stories in English when I was about fifteen, and since my first love in books has always been Fantasy, my dream was to once write my very own epic fantasy novel.
When I got to about age thirty, I realised that whatever I wrote always ended up being heavily romantic, probably because my second love in books is for all things Romance. The short stories kept coming, until I finally got to the point where a short story just wasn’t long enough.
I currently have two books available. They are as much fantasy as they are romance, and the content is most definitely adult, mainly because I’ve always thought that there is little point in romance if there is no sex involved. I also feel that it is very important for your characters to be believable – few things used to annoy me more in eighties’ romance novels than heroines suddenly going from hate to love for the hero, simply because they reached chapter seven.
The Ritual is part one of my trilogy, and The Conspiracy is part two. Part three will probably not appear before 2014, but you never know. I hope that people will enjoy them, because I can’t be the only one who likes the combination of fantasy and romance.

The Conspiracy

Publication Date: May 23, 2013

There is no room for love at the royal court. There is only intrigue and political maneuvering.
For Veysita, a young half-elf courtier, this has been the reality of her life since childhood. Crown Prince Tionev is her best friend, but never more than that, even if she would like him to be.
When she uncovers a plot to assassinate the queen, her life is thrown into turmoil. Veysita discovers that she has not been trained to be the prince’s bodyguard, as she thought, but to be much more. She is to be a spy, thief and maybe even assassin, and she will have to travel into the lion’s den with little more than her wits to aid her. As if that isn’t enough, there is also the handsome, honey-eyed stranger who keeps showing up whenever Veysita least expects him.
Love may come knocking after all, whether there is room for it or not…

PLEASE NOTE that this book contains strong language and explicit scenes.

Go over and check out her books.

Here’s the link to Rosie’s side of today’s tour: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2pC