Did You Say Free? (Promotion Has Ended)

Why yes, yes I did.

First:  No, you did not sleep through Saturday, but this was too important to wait until tomorrow.

Next:  The whole point of my releasing Strange Kisses when I did was so it would be around for summer vacations. I figured since this is the biggest vacation week of the year, what better way to kick it off than to offer both "Fear of the Dark" and Strange Kisses for free today only? So go grab them! (Please remember that both of these books are NC-17 and NSFW. That said, enjoy them.) You may click on the title(s) to take you to Amazon or follow the link in the box to the left.

Finally:  You may or may not awaken to a post tomorrow morning. I haven't decided yet. So, just in case, have a great week!

Happy Reading!

New Projects New Designs

 

I don't have a whole bunch of exciting news to report except that my dear crochet friends are going to be blissfully happy pretty soon. My fingers have been terribly itchy and I haven't had much editing work to do this week, so I pulled out the crochet notebooks and roughed out a few ideas.

Specifically, I worked on a motif-based group of patterns I began about a year ago that I never fully completed. THAT design group was intended to be my first crochet book, but I didn't get it done because I pushed it aside "for a bit" to work on the Kindle All-Stars project. When it came time to pull together designs for the first book, in the interest of getting my end done quickly, I chose patterns that were complete.

I guarantee this group is worth the wait. It's adorable, if I do say so myself. It's also incredibly versatile, which is why the design process is taking me so long. Making samples can be ridiculously tedious and take quite a bit of time. There's also the problem of I keep adding to the idea file for it. Go figure. Once I start designing, my imagination goes a little bonkers.

The other group of patterns I've been working on is super secret. What I will tell you is that it's for the blog. You all know what that means. Yep. Free with a capital FREE. I've roughed out no fewer than four new patterns and I'm developing a couple more.

So here's where I need your help. In keeping with the Christmas in July tradition, I plan to publish a new free pattern on July 25th. Would you all rather see a beanie, a scarf, or mittens? OR would you be happy with a pattern of my choosing? Leave me a comment to let me know because I've got to get the sample done and photographed so I can post it for you.

By the way, if you aren't already aware, my first real, honest to goodness, crochet book Quick Crochet for Kitchen and Bath (Volume 1) is currently available in print from Amazon. The link is near the top left of this page.

The Kindle edition is still in the hands of a professional e-book formatter. (There was no way in the world I was going to tackle formatting an edition that included so many photos without professional help.) I'm hoping it will be done soon, but in this crazy world, who knows what could happen?

Happy Crocheting!

Smut and Stephen King

Well, it's here. The anthology of smut that I've been promising is finally live on Amazon AND I have a promotion to go with it. If you're confused by the title you see on the book cover, I'll clear that up in a minute. Be warned; these stories are not intended for anyone under the age of 18.

First, the Promotion:

I released my short story, "Fear of the Dark," about six weeks ago as a preview to this anthology. Well, Sunday and Monday, June 17 and 18, "Fear of the Dark" is free on Amazon so you can get a little taste. Strange Kisses, the anthology that includes "Fear of the Dark," is now live on Amazon and selling for $2.99. So grab the single if you want to test the waters, then dive into the four-piece anthology.

Next, Change in Cover and Title:

this one didn't make the cut but will
 be used for a different collection

My original intent was to assemble a group of very dark, genre-oriented, erotic tales. The problem was they just didn't come together as quickly as I hoped they would. However, another set of stories that I had been playing with (in my head) for a while pulled together and nearly wrote itself. I suppose the stories decided it was time. So the original title, Eros and Thanatos no longer fit.

The Stephen King Connection:

I had been having this back and forth, via email, with a friend. I convinced him that he needed to read Skeleton Crew, the first Stephen King book I ever read. Because I loved it. I had forgotten how much I loved it until one night when that friend sent me an email that began with, "Wait - just a few minutes. I want to talk to you... and then I am going to kiss you. Wait..." You see, so many people want to pigeonhole Stephen King as a horror writer, but his versatility is amazing. AND I'm convinced he's a hopeless romantic hiding behind a pair of thick glasses and a stack of scary novels.

My favorite Stephen King quote is "...a short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger." THAT, my friends, is where I got the title for this collection.

A couple of friends have graciously allowed me to take over their blogs for the weekend. You'll find a Q & A-type article over at my pal Matt Posner's blog. You may remember him as the Vampire Poet from April's poetry slam. And Tony Healey over at his website asked me to write a short article about the stories behind the stories that make up Strange Kisses.

If I may, I'd like to offer you one last Stephen King quote, also from the introduction to Skeleton Crew:  "...if I should kiss you in the dark, it’s no big deal; it’s only because you are my love."

Happy Reading!

This Salvador Dali Life

Wasn't that a song, or a line in a song, or something? It most likely had something to do with Bananarama. UGH! I can't stand Bananarama. Tell you what. Anybody out there who can figure out why in the world I've got this short piece of music with those lyrics in my head right now gets a free pdf proof of my new crochet book. Post the answer in the comments below.

Now to the real reason we're gathered together today:  Do you remember how, back in March, I promised you big news about this crochet book I had written and it would be out "any day now?" Yeah, well any day ended up taking three months.

See? Sometimes the Real World gets in the way. My graphic designer, Glendon Haddix of Streetlight Graphics, and I have both had this bizarre spring which has caused one delay after another through this whole process. But the important thing is it's now done. The book is complete. The file is uploaded. And it went live on Amazon Saturday morning. So... that means I'M IN PRINT Y'ALL!!!!!!

The print edition of Quick Crochet for Kitchen and Bath is now live. You may now order a print copy via Amazon.com for $14.99 which is actually a huge savings over the previous price I charged in my Etsy shop for all the patterns in the book. Hit the link in the upper left area of this page to take you there.

Oh, by the way, the Kindle edition is coming "any day now." Hahahahahahaha!

So why the Salvador Dali reference? Because It all just seems surreal. In the past year, I've helped produce about a dozen books, not including my own. Before I even hit the one year mark of working with the Kindle All-Stars, I will have published at least three of my own books. I'm almost at that point as a freelance fiction editor that I won't need a regular job. Thank goodness. I'd hate to have to go back to retail and if I'm going to work in an office, I want it to be with a publisher. So yeah, I'm living a Salvador Dali life. (Better Dali than Bosch, right?)

Happy Crocheting!

Teens, Sex, and Relationships

You've all heard me talk about the terrific writers of the Kindle All-Stars and I'd like you to meet another of them today. I first introduced you to my buddy Matt Posner (aka Cat's Pajamas) back in April via his poems "Vampire Poet" and "Famous Fathers." His work goes far beyond poetry and he's here again today as my guest. Teen Guide to Sex and Relationships is co-authored by Matt along with his writing Partner, Jess C. Scott. Matt was gracious enough to answer a few questions for me about the book and about Jess.

Teen Guide to Sex & Relationships
is now available on Amazon

LAURIE:   All of my readers know I love being a Bostonian, but I fraternize regularly with New Yorkers. Please assure me you're NOT a Jets fan and all will be just fine. (Feel free to lie if you must.)

MATT:  I don't care about the Jets at all. No one from Miami likes the Jets. I've been to Boston twice so far and consider it a great place to vacation. The whale-watching tours are cool. Julie and I also like to go over to Cambridge and shop at the Harvard Coop. There is no Boston/New York rivalry that I'm involved in. I'm from Miami originally.

LAURIE:  So what's in this book? Who's the target audience and what should they expect?

MATT:  This book is written for teenagers of both genders and all sexual preferences. They will find separate sections for questions and answers about sexuality and about relationship issues. Jess and I write separate answers to every question from our own distinct points of view. Jess is a cool young woman with a nonconformist view, and I'm an older teacher of conservative personal habits. Jess and I agree on all matters to do with young people's safety and happiness, but our advice isn't always the same, as we are from different generations. We explain topics about love, lust, and anatomy, and we talk about how to begin, maintain, and end relationships and how to recognize feelings for what they are. We also explain unfamiliar or partially understood terms and we shatter a lot of myths.

LAURIE:  Many advice books are written by only one author. Why two in this case?

MATT:  When I envisioned this book, I thought I should have a female to counterbalance my very male point of view. I know some things about the female heart and female anatomy, but a female should mentor a female just as a male should mentor a male. Also, readers would, I think, want to know what the other gender is thinking!  

LAURIE:  Why is your book different from other books on this subject?

MATT:  Our book is designed to read like a conversation with an older friend. We aren't therapists or doctors or social workers or theoreticians:  we're just people who've been around whom you can trust to be on your side and do their best to advise you. Like your older sister who just came back from college with fresh ideas, or your uncle who tells you what he thinks and doesn't judge you like your dad does. That kind of people.

LAURIE:  How was it to work with Jess C. Scott?

MATT:  We've turned out to be a good team. We rarely disagree, and if we ever have disagreed, we've settled it so cordially that neither of us could even be sure there was a disagreement at all! Jess is super prolific and works on many projects at a time; I also work on many projects at a time, and I write fast, too, when I'm actually writing; however, I don't write every day, so to keep up with her, I had to go on vacation! So I wrote about a third of my share of this book during a couple of days holed up in my house in North Carolina.

LAURIE:  How did you guys come together as a team?

MATT:  When I was new in the business, in November 2010, I saw her request for reviewers of Other Side of Life and answered on a whim. What a good decision! She proved to be very business-savvy and gave me some good advice to get me started. We kept in touch sort of in the background of having separate careers, but although I thought it would be nice to team up for a project, I didn't have one in mind, because she was working on Elven Trilogy (and still is) and I was and still am committed to School of the Ages. About a year and a half later, it finally occurred to me that my dormant Teen Guide project was the right collaboration. I suggested as much, and here we are now. We are talking about co-authoring several more projects.

LAURIE:  Thanks for appearing on my blog.

MATT:  No, Consigliera. THANK YOU.

Samples available online:

http://www.jessink.com/teenguide.htm

http://schooloftheages.webs.com/apps/blog/show/14770008-from-teen-guide-how-do-you-tell-the-difference-between-love-and-lust-

Your comments are welcome and I'm happy to forward any questions my readers may have to Jess or Matt.

Happy Reading!