Sasha White

There are so many ePublishers out there. Elloras Cave, Amber Quill, Liquid Silver, NCP, Loose Id. Yet, I only see the authors from EC getting book deals with paperback publishers. I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. :crazy:

I’m thinking about giving ePublishing a try, to build a large readership, get my name out there in the publishing and book buying world. And to get some experience with full novels.:satisfied: But I also would like it to be a stepping stone to bigger things. Does anyone here know of authors from any of the other ePublishers that are moving on to bigger things?

And if not, do you think this is because EC has a higher standard of quality for their authors, (or that that’s what publishers think since it’s the only RWA recognised ePublisher?) or that they just have a bigger name themselves? I do know that I’ve read other eBooks that are of great quality, but I’ve yet to hear about one of those authors ‘breaking out’ (although my fingers are corssed for you, Ellen with the Brava final!)

I was surfing around the web again and found this entry in a blog, and it made me think.

I have read some stories, both store bought, and ePubbed, that were labeled Erotic Romance, that left me cold. Not just as a reader, but disappointed at the quality as a writer. Lynn does a good job in mentioning the lack of craft involved in some stories so I’m going to mention something I’ve found lacking. The EROTIC part of erotic romances.

I’m often disappointed when I read a story that’s billed as an erotic romance when I get to the love/sex scenes. Why? Because in my humble opinion I think there’s more to making a sex scene erotic than just explicitness.

I’ve often heard romance authors say that erotica has no emotion, or no feeling. I disagree 100%. Just because the feelings involved are not LOVE does not mean there is no emotion. To me, the key to making a scene erotic is just how clearly the writer expresses all the feelings of the characters, not how many times they can say ‘cock’ or how many positions their characters fuck in.

For some examples of GREAT erotic romance stories check out Emma Holly, Angela Knight, Janelle Denison, Jaid Black, and Alison Kent.

I was killin’ time. :hehe:

You’re a Vampire. Vampires were the creatures of
the night that were believed to live off of
human blood. Count Dracula, being the most
famous vampire, set the stereotype. They had
dark hair and pale skin from being away from
the sunlight. If they actually existed, it’s
very possible they had the skin disease that
made you allergic to the sun so whenever the
sunlight would hit it, it would hurt like
crazy. They were usually snobbish and control
freaks and kept werewolves as pets.

What Mystical Creature Are You? (Pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla

“The second biggest reason that manuscripts are turned down is for lack of character. That’s why lifting your hero above his circumstances- above himself- is so necessary. We want our heroes to win.”

This is from notes I took at a characterization workshop I attended with agent Donald Maass last year and I’m finding them very motivational at the moment. You see, I’m trying to get past writing short stories. I love them, but I want to write a NOVEL . . . and I want it to be GREAT!
Scratch that. I AM going to write a novel…and it IS going to be GREAT!! Rereading these notes reminds me of just HOW to make my characters strong enough o carry an entire novel. And now I want feel confident that they can do it.

I was chatting with Cece today about how competitive women are with each other. (I guess this can apply to men as well, but I KNOW it applies to women.) I don’t mean in a good way either. I mean in a petty, bickering, infantile way.

Working in a small business with ALOT of women, I see it often. You know what I’m talking about . . . the way your ‘friend’ will tell you that she doesn’t see what’s so attractive about “Joe”.
“He’s pretty high on himself,” she says.
Yet, when he’s around, and paying attention to you, she’ll flirt with him. Even go so far as to come on to him!
Or
How about clothing, and hairstyles? You have a ‘friend’ that says they don’t like women with short hair, it’s not feminine. You get your hair cut short, and it looks great! So a month later, she gets hers cut short.
Or
Weight loss. You’re struggling with your own self- image and trying to lose weight. You tell your ‘friend’ this, and suddenly she’s always got some sort of junk food in front of her. Chocolate bars, cheesecake. All those things you love, but don’t want to be around because you’re trying to lose weight. And of course, she can never eat them all herself so she tries to share with you.:angry:

Cece calls it THE TODDLER SYNDROME. They way a child doesn’t want to play with an old toy that sits in the middle of the floor…until another child reaches for it.

Just some random thoguhts I felt like sharing!

UPDATE:I didn’t mean to sound like I was saying all women ARE snarky bitchs! Just that we CAN be! :hehe: It’s a ‘thing’ for me…how all women tend to compete with each other, even unintentionally, (It’s like an instinct or something). Especially when you get a group together, like the dozen women I work with! :rolleyes:

Whoo Hooo! I’m not sure if any of you remember me talking about Kim Harrison’s DEAD WITCH WALKING a while back, but I absolutely LOVED it! :hehe:

And now the sequal is up for pre-order on Amazon. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UNDEAD looks to be another keeper.

First off!
Yahooo!! I’m very excited!! I just heard from my editor at Black Lace and she’s agreed to consider a novel born of one of my short stories they like. I have to write a synopsis, and send it in for approval, but I’m very excited!!

OK, now, progress report on the rest of my Works In Progress.
GYPSY HEART, my contemporary romance novel is half polished to perfection ;) but I still need to add a few key scenes. Moving it to the back burner so I can continue with THE DEVIL INSIDE, an erotic novella with a tiny paranormal tilt that is just over half finished and has called my name all weekend.

Any and all other short stories are put on hold so I can get these done, and the synopsis for Black Lace as soon as possible.

Oh! Except the other short story I’ll be submitting to BL by the end of November for their next anthology.

Hmm, busy busy..I like it!! :D

I’m so happy!!

Sylvia is the finalist of week 2 in the Tawny Taylor Some Like It Hot contest!!!!

I know this talented woman is going to be a Best Seller someday!

One night a while back a co-worker of mine, Dan, sat at the bar and chatted with me. While chatting he doodled on the back of the coaster, and {{popup Rinapic3b.jpg Rinapic3b 521×519}}This is what he did.

Being someone that has trouble draw a circle, I thought it was pretty cool. :hehe:

Ok. I panicked when I started to back up my files, on cd’s, and saw little happy faces as the icon instead of a cd icon. My first thought was. . . I have a virus!!! :O

So, off I went to the computer store. I talked to a salesman, who told me to buy an anti-virus program; it would solve all my problems! (I didn’t ask if it would help me plot my next novel :hehe:) Then, before actually purchasing the program, I went to the tech department, and explained what was happening to the tech guy. He said, “I don’t think it’s a virus.” *shakes head sagely*
He checked my jump drive for me, (he couldn’t get the files open either) and then checked my newly burned cd’s (they worked fine). While befuddled and not exactly sure what was wrong with my file/computer, he proceeded to show me how to run some built in repair programs.

So, I paid for the anti-virus program, (just in case I actually NEEDED it), went to work, and came home after work to run the repair programs. Now, I’m still unable to open my four “lost files” of last week, but I am able to open all the others and the funky smiley face is gone, and the disks work fine.

I’m not celebrating yet, but I think all is well. *fingers crossed*