Sasha White

on the LOVEYOUDIVINE loop.

Join us today!!

BUt a giveaway today to warm you up!!

The sequel to Signet and Silk —called Signet and Silk 2 will be out tomorrow!! (Written by my buddy JJ MassaYou can go straight to loveyoudivine’s store and get a PDF copy here:HERE It’s available in LIT, Mobi, and HTML, too. Watch for another short story, Fair Game, to be out this weekend as well.

Join loveyoudivine’s chat group at loveyoudivine-subscribe@yahoogroups.com for Friday’s Christmas chat. J.J. Massa, JJ Giles, Kacey Hammell, Jude Mason, Tilly Greene, and many others (Including ME) will be around for the fun! One winner will get a gift basket, others prints and downloads. TONS of fun!

But for today, if you want a chance to win SIGNET & SILK #1, Comment here and tell me if you’ve ever read Male-Male erotic romance, and if you liked it or not. In case you haven;t figured it out. S&S is MM!!

I’ll announce the winner tomorrow!

UPDATE: Winner from yesterdays draw is CATHIE
Cathie, email me and I’ll get you your prize!!

I’ve been drooling over Ron Livingston since STANDOFF started this year, and I finally realized who he was. He was in BAND OF BROTHERS!

He’s well worth watching. Plus, Gina Tores from Firefly and Serenity is Standoff too… it’s a good show … so check it out on Tuesday nights!

Not only is Nina, The Lazy Geisha, but she’s a damn smart woman too. Well, I guess Geisha’s are all smart aren’t they? even the lazy ones.

Anyway, I visit her blog a few times a week. It’s one of the places that makes me think in a very erotic way. And the other day she blogged about her writing. The title of the post is called TINY DANCER, and I finally had to get out of lurkdom and comment that I am a frim beleiver that writers don’t always have to writer “proper” to be good writer. (GO read the post, and the comments and this might make better sense) Anyway, she replied to my comment with this… and I had to share because it hits the nail on the head!

A long time ago, when I was a teenager back in the 80’s (Now this is going back a long ways!), but it was when much of the music I owned was on cassette tapes. I had a cassette single of Billy Idol’s ‘Dancing with Myself’ and on the B-Side of that tape was an audio interview between Billy Idol and MTV’s Martha Quinn. During that interview Idol said something I don’t think I’ll ever forget, and I’m paraphrasing here, but Quinn asked Idol about singers, and Idol said something to the effect of :

“Why do I listen to Mick Jagger? Because he can’t sing and he sounds great. Robert Plant can sing, but do I listen to Robert Plant? No I don’t. I listen to Mick because he can’t sing and he sounds great.”

That just always stuck with me because it taught me that while talent is important, it isn’t everything, you also needs a little chutzpah, passion and personality to make it in this world. Yes, There are far better writers out there, who can churn out enough vocabulary to rival Webster’s Unabridged, but at the end of the day they’ve said absolutely nothing. I’d rather write… and read for that matter, someone who opens their soul and shows me something real with their words. That to me is the mark of a truly great writer, and it’s what I aspire to.

I love it. The heart of what makes a story, song, painting Great.

First off. TESS!! You are the winner of the signed copy of KINK. from yesterdays draw. Email me by the end of teh weekend to claim yourprize!!!

In other news..if anyone out ther is part of an authors group, and looking for a website design, or wanting to start a group, check out the temporary package Frauke, from Croco Designs is offering. Even if you’re NOT an author, but a group wanting to set up a website with a common interest, I highly recommend Frauke. She designed my website, my Secret Thoughts eZine site, and has done eBook Publishers sites as well. So it’s not all abotu authors.

Speaking of which, The December issue of SECRET THOUGHTS is up now, and it is the Final issue. There’s plenty of interest there. An interview with Andrie Claude, An interview with a female submissive in the BDSM lifestyle, a free read from myself as well as an excerpt from Laura Bacchi’s new story TOPPING TORA.

So go check it out!!

I’ve been writing. I’m so behind on my deadlines and abligations. Not sure how it happened.

However, I had to come out of the cave to post this. The cover for my next Berkley single title. TROUBLE!!!

YAY!!! I’m so very excited about this book. Not only is the heroine a secondary charcter from WATCH ME, but Karl, from BOUND is also in it, and several other characters, even form my eBook LOSING IT, all make cameos. It wasn’t planned like that, but the characters fit perfect, and I loved having them all together.

Now, there have been mixed reactions to this cover… Personally, I love it. But friends have been less than enthusiastic because they have to look to hard to figure out what it is. Can you see what it is??

Does it help you to know that the heroine in the story is a lingerie desinger, and she also designs Fetish Wear?

C’mon, share your opinions and be entered in a draw to win a free signed copy of KINK! (*warning* you won’t get the prize until late January, when I get my author copies. But I’ll get it to you as soon as I get Mine!)

But instead, I was playing in photoshop.
What do you think?

It’s not often I talk about things writers do that make me shake my head, but I have to say this. Quite a while back I remember a certain writer blogging about how she wanted her readers to not pre-order her books, and to go to the store during the first week/month of release to buy it. Now, I’m seeing it again.

I understand why this is something said author wants. I even rememebr talking abotuthe business side of thigns here once. And it is the business of things. Publishers and booksellers look at a books sales in that first month as an inicator of how well all of that authors books will sell. Some authors stress this buying time to thier readers because that is also how they get on a best sellers list. Think of it as opening weekend for a movie.

But I think it’s tacky to do keep reminding your readers that you need them to buy your book during a specific time - to say to readers, “If you like this series, and want to see the next installment, but this one now, or the publisher won’t buy my next book.”

It seems too much like whining to me. I mean c’mon… I’m just thrilled readers are buying my books anytime. Do I want good sales? ofcourse I do! But I also believe that if I just keep writing good stories, readers will keep buying them.

As an author I do believe there a couple of things you can do to boost your sales. Things that don’t include pressuring/begging/ or guilting readers. Things like, promotions. By that I mean - yes, I am aware of how little most of us get paid -but if you want your book to do well, think of it as an investment in yourself. Spend some money, get those bookmarks, print ads, and flyers done up.

Giveaways. Yes, I want readers to buy my books. But money is tight for almost everyone these days, so free reads on a website, and giveaways of author copies is a great way to hook new readers without them spending any money.

Appearances. Online or in person. Booksignings, confrences, chats, whatever.
You wil not always sell books ata booksigning. I know I’ve done when at a big busy store andnot sold 1 book during that time. However, I talked to a ton of people, and handed out bookmarks and coverflaps and stuff that I hope will make people either drop by my website, or pick up the book later, when there is no pressure.

There are things we can do, and things we have no control over. I think the best way to insure your next contract with a publisher, and many sales to readers, is to write a good story. But I think talking to your readers about how much you need them to buy your book is not the way to go. In all honesty, it makes me not want to buy that particular book. Am I being too harsh? Maybe I’m just stubborn that way.

Just my opinion.

So, you all know I like kick ass heroines and hot yummy heros.

ARCTIC DRAGONis a hot read!

You HAVE to check out Delilah Devlin’s lates Ellora’s Cave release. Personally, I wasn’t super excited abotu it becasue I felt the “onelast fling before I settle down” premise was too cliche. However, I’ve enjoyed Delilah’s books before, so I gave it a shot…and I say you should too. It’s well worth it.

See more about it HERE

Inferno
Kensington Aphrodisia
by Vivi Anna
ISBN: 0758214960
December 2006

The sexiest, smartest, leather-clad hell-raiser ever to walk the post-Apocalyptic Earth is always on the prowl for enemies and sexual conquests. But now Kat is chasing something very different—and far more dangerous. she’s caught a killer virus and only one man has the cure—a scientist named Onyx who dwells in the deadly city of Inferno. If she’s going to make there alive, she’ll need the help of Hades, her favorite lover—a man who’s big, mean, and hotter than hell. But he won’t help her for free—he wants her body and her heart, and he’s not going to settle for anything less than a lifetime of pleasure. Because once they enter the Inferno, they may never come out again…

WHOO HOOO, KAT IS BACK!
In bookstores that is. Back In April I posted THIS REVIEW of HELL KAT. And the sequel is finally here. Yes, I am soooo eager to read it. But, I have a deadline. Three projects actually due or beyond due right now. So, Inferno sits and taunts me… however, I had to whoop it up cuz I just know I’m gonna love it when I get to it. My Buddy VIVI ANNA knows how to write kick ass chics like no one else.

Oh, and if you were unlucky enough to not have read HELL KAT yet, hop on over to the BERKLEY BABES blog today, where I’m giving away a signed copy from Vivi Anna.

READ AN EXCERPT FROM INFERNO