#WriteWed – The Best Thing About Writing

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! The absolutely best thing about writing is getting to spend time with all of you! I love getting to know you and talking books with you. So I hope I will see some of you at one of my upcoming events and conferences. Please take a moment to check out the list and if you have anything going on nearby that you want for me to attend, please drop me a line and I will see if I can make it!

Upcoming Events

Liberty States Fiction Reader and Writer Conference

Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference

Book Lovers Con
May 15-19, 2019
Hyatt Regency New Orleans
601 Loyola Ave, New Orleans, LA 70113
For more info please visit https://www.bookloverscon.com

IWWG Summer Writers Conference 2019: Writing the Body:
Voice, Art, and Craft in a Changing World
July 12-19, 2019
Muhlenberg College
Allentown, PA
For more info, please visit https://www.iwwg.org/summer-conference/

Romance Writers of America National Conference
July 24-27, 2019
Literacy Signing is open to the general public.
New York Marriott Marquis
1535 Broadway
New York, New York
For more info please visit https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=564

Hope to see you soon!

February 13, 2019

#WriteWed – Playing Genre Roulette

Some people may know that I started out writing contemporary romance. Eight of them in fact for Kensington Publishing’s defunct ENCANTO romance line. I had written those novels over the course of about three years and I wanted to challenge myself by writing something totally new and different. Being a fan of The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I wondered what I would do if I mashed the two genres — suspense and vampires — and tossed in some romance as well. That’s how THE CALLING IS REBORN series was created. Little did I know I would be sucked into a world of both regular and paranormal suspense for the next ten years. WOW! But like I had before, I felt myself craving doing some different and definitely something lighter. That’s how ONE SUMMER NIGHT and WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER came about as well as the TAKE A CHANCE Military Romance novellas.

It is a risk to mix genres like that. For an author it’s like playing roulette because you never know if you’re going to have a winner and make a reader happy. Ultimately, that’s one of the big end goals – happy readers. But there is also another goal: loving what you do as a writer.

Will writing in multiple genres work? It has for some people, but I always caution first-time authors to focus on one genre for at least a few books. Develop a following before you go off and try something different. If readers like you, they will follow. If not…

Publishing is a crap shoot for sure. If you’re going to be a winner in the long run the most important thing is to be passionate about what you write.

January 30, 2019

#WriteWed – A New York City Writing Experience

My daughter is working in New York City now so I had the pleasure of commuting with her this morning as well as sharing a traditional New York coffee shop experience. We had a great time on the train chatting about the writing projects on which we were both working and the discussion continued as we ate breakfast together. I love that my daughter has developed such an intense passion to write and that we can share that love. She’s been writing in journals since middle school and I’m proud to say she released her first novel, FOLLOWING JANE, five years ago. Right now she’s working on various projects, just like her mom. I’ve got several things going on and as soon as I can share, I will! For now, I’m so glad we got to share this New York City writing experience.

January 16, 2019

Indie-Publishing 101 #WriteWed

As I mentioned the other day, I’m so excited to have gotten back rights to over a dozen books that I had written from Harlequin. Many of them are paranormals including quite a number of books in THE CALLING vampire suspense series. Since this is a series of my heart it’s a big woo hoo. My goal is to re-release them over the course of the next several months, but that will take planning and some thought on how to position them since THE CALLING has always been a unique series. A little bit vampire, a little bit suspense. A little historical with the vampire backgrounds and a little multicultural with Chupacabras, Chiang shis and a Latino FBI Agent and her Scooby Gang.

That kind of planning and the self-publishing avenues available to authors is what I will be chatting about at this year’s Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference. I’m so looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned over the last several years of releasing my own books and hopefully offering aspiring authors useful information about how to move their careers forward. For more info on the conference, which also has a wonderful readers’ track, please visit www.lsfwriters.com.

The one word that keeps on coming back to me as being imperative is “planning.” We just had an awesome planning workshop at our monthly meeting this month and I know many of the attendees came away with good ideas on not only planning, but using technology to help them be more effective writers.

Right now I’m in the planning phases since I have to write a new book for a traditional contract and somehow work in new projects for the future as well as the indie publishing for the books which have reverted to me.

2019 is promising to be an interesting year and I’m looking forward to sharing all that happens with you!

November 14, 2018

#WriteWed – A Room Without Books

I can’t imagine a room without books maybe because books have been an integral part of my life for so long. From the moment I learned to read, I always had a book in my hands. Books helped me escape to new worlds and learn so many interesting things. My husband teases me about all the little tidbits and facts that I know and whenever he asks me how I knew it, I say, “I read it in a book!”

For that reason, this quote from Roman philosopher Cicero struck me as being all too true. I know that without books I’d lose a little bit of my soul. How about you?

April 11, 2018February 23, 2021

#WriteWed I am a Total Nerd & What Happens in Summer

I think I’ve mentioned that I’m a lot like the heroine of my upcoming release WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER. Like me, Connie is Latina and a lawyer and very career driven. But today I’m going to surprise you and tell you why I’m also a lot like Jonathan Pierce, the sexy surfer dude and nerd who turned into a tech billionaire.

In the first scenes of WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER you meet Jonathan and realize that he’s “coasting” through life and bored with school. He’s decided not to return to Villanova (my alma mater and go Cats!). That choice is something that very responsible Connie can’t imagine, especially since going to school for her was a financial hardship and a lifelong dream.

You eventually find out that Jonathan is bored because. . . I don’t want to spoil it for you right now. But suffice it to say that like Jonathan, I was sometimes bored in school, but instead of dropping out, I found more things to do to keep me engaged. I went home and read anything I could get my hands on, oftentimes things well beyond my grade level. I read the encyclopedia. I did the vocabulary tests in the back of the World Book. I was a nerd and very shy. Yes, people laugh when I say that because I’m anything but shy now.

When I wasn’t learning, I was also a jock and a musician which oftentimes confused people and also made it a little hard for me because I fit in a lot of places, but not really since each of those groups couldn’t quite get me.

Which is how Jonathan felt at times, even with Connie. It takes him some time to find his stride and his friends and also, what makes Connie tick and how to handle that because well, he loves handling her if you get what I mean. LOL!

So, that’s the story of my writing inspiration for Jonathan Pierce from What Happens in Summer. You can purchase WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER at these retailers:

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/2y6hi4h
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2y92UIQ
B&N: http://bit.ly/2BJNcov
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2hKg3BW
iBooks: http://apple.co/2hKgP1J
Kobo: Coming Soon!

Also, don’t miss out on the special 99 cents pricing on ONE SUMMER NIGHT! You can purchase ONE SUMMER NIGHT at the following retailers:

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/2krMwfE
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2kYLWZV
B&N: http://bit.ly/2kNuo0p
iBooks: http://apple.co/2qsqdwx
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2fuEphL

April 4, 2018February 23, 2021

#WriteWed – Why At the Shore is a Series of My Heart

There are some books or series that are closer to your heart than others. THE CALLING IS REBORN series was one of those for me as it let me explore my dark side when I was feeling in a particularly dark mood.

But now I’m not in that place anymore thankfully (although I do intend to finish up the series with FIGHT FOR LOVE later this year!). I am in a much happier place and the At the Shore series reflects that as well as many other things about me like:

ONE SUMMER NIGHT

I love the Chrysler Building! It’s my favorite building in all of New York City and that’s why I put Maggie’s office there.

Uber anal and responsible Connie Reyes from WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER is the character who is most like me. I was always very career driven and had to overcome a lot to become a partner in my law firm. Plus I’ve always had a thing for surfer dudes although the man I married is anything but. He hates the sand and can’t really swim. LOL!

I grew up spending my Long Island summers at Jones Beach, but wasn’t really able to explore the Jersey Shore much until later in life. Once I did I knew that was where I wanted to live and made the move. I want to share my love of the Jersey Shore and the towns along my little stretch of it with you in the At the Shore series.

One of my fav towns is Ocean Grove where my daughter’s shop is located. Sea Kiss is loosely based on Ocean Grove and as you see the characters walk through town, it is like taking a stroll along Ocean Grove’s Main Avenue.

I love to cook (as you can tell from the recipes I share) and I used that love of cooking to create the menus for the weddings in the At the Shore series and also as the background for Carlo, the sexy caterer who will tempt Emma to believe that she can have a happily ever after as well in #3 in the series (as yet untitled.)

I hope you liked those little tidbits I shared with you and I hope you will try out the books in the series!

#2 in the At the Shore Series, WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER can be Pre-Ordered here:

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/2y6hi4h
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2y92UIQ
B&N: http://bit.ly/2BJNcov
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2hKg3BW
iBooks: http://apple.co/2hKgP1J
Kobo: Coming Soon!

If you haven’t had a chance to read #1 yet, great news! We’ve got special pricing on ONE SUMMER NIGHT and if you’d like, read the first three chapters for free at Radish!

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/2krMwfE
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2kYLWZV
B&N: http://bit.ly/2kNuo0p
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2ik8EfG
iBooks: http://apple.co/2qsqdwx
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2fuEphL
Radish: Read three chapters for free – http://bit.ly/2AERQFk

What Happens in Summer Jersey Shore Contemporary Romance