For the First Time...

I’ve been through some pretty exciting “firsts” in my life: my first kiss, my first (and only!) wedding, buying our first house, the birth of our first child…

Firsts have a very distinctive place in our lives. They create strong memories filled with emotion, something I love as a writer. If we’re lucky, they are good emotions that enrich our relationships, encourage us to push forward, and root us in our lives and beliefs.

There have been many writing firsts for me too, experiences that have spurred on my drive to create, including finishing my first book, finalling in my first contest, making my first sale. And now…

MY FIRST OFFICIAL E-BOOK RELEASE!!!

(yep, that’s my first official cover too!)

Today, I’d love to celebrate all your wonderful firsts together! Tell me your favorite “first” memory! One commenter will win a Release Day goodie pack: Fall Festival Candle, Godiva chocolate caramel gems, and a $5 Amazon gift card.

In Snow Bound, heroine Tori Anderson has her own set of “firsts”, especially as hero Damon West sets out to fulfill some long-held fantasies. If you enjoy sexy heroes, southern heroines, unexpected stalkers, and close quarters with no way out, this novella will spice up your night!

Now available on Amazon. Coming soon to Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.

Keep up with author Dani Wade on her weekly blog: www.DaniWade.com

If you'd like to find out more about the inspiration behind hottie hero Damon West, he's showcased in today's Friday Feature Foto on The Mutual Admiration Society's blog.

Guest Blogger -- Tracy Sumner

Please make room on the swingset for today's guest blogger, Tracy Sumner!

Thanks for inviting me to the Playground!

My discussion today? Covers. What do readers expect and how have covers changed with the changes in publishing? And what do writers want? (With the explosion of e-publishing, authors actually have a say when they may not have before!)

The reason I thought I’d discuss this topic is, I had a recent comment that my covers are a bit…contemporary. I should say that, to date, I’ve only published historic romance. And, on a further note, I should add that I’m a graphic designer in the real world. Although I did not design my covers. That went to Kim Killion at HotDamn Designs!

Okay, here’s the original cover for TIDES OF PASSION.



Not bad, right? (And this was the best of my Kensington-release bunch.) But when I released TIDES OF PASSION as an e-book, I had a different idea. The setting is very much entrenched in the North Carolina coast (Outer Banks), and although it is set in 1898, it’s a bit outside the “lords and ladies” Victorian or Regency historical settings. So, I went for a little more modern feel.



With what I’ll call the expansion of the genre, I think readers have come to expect the cover to tell them something about the heat level, not only the setting or time period. TIDES OF PASSION is the most graphic book with regard to love scenes that I’ve written, however, probably still a 3.5/4 on a scale of 5. Very, very warm – but not erotica.

For the prequel, TIDES OF LOVE, my cover artist and I went with this.



I did revert to very historical “style” with a holiday novella and its prequel. TO SEDUCE A ROGUE is set to release in February. TO DESIRE A SCOUNDREL is already out. I think the ROGUE cover is my very favorite of my backlist covers to date.



Tracy’s story telling career began when she picked up a copy of LaVyrle Spencer’s Vows on a college beach trip. A journalism degree and a thousand romance novels later, she decided to try her hand at writing a southern version of the perfect love story. With a great deal of luck and more than a bit of perseverance, she sold her first novel to Kensington Publishing.

When not writing sensual stories featuring complex characters and lush settings, Tracy can be found reading romance, snowboarding, watching college football and figuring out how she can get to 100 countries before she kicks (which is a more difficult endeavor than it used to be with her four-year-old son in tow). After stops in France, Switzerland and Taiwan, she now lives in the south. However, after spending a few years in “the city”, she considers herself a New Yorker at heart.

Tracy has been awarded the National Reader’s Choice, the Write Touch and the Beacon – with finalist nominations in the HOLT Medallion, Heart of Romance, Rising Stars and Reader’s Choice. Her books have been translated into German, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish. She loves hearing from readers about why she tends to pit her hero and heroine against each other and that great novel she simply must order in five seconds on her Kindle.

Ciao!

www.tracysumner.com
@SumnerTracy on Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

Cover Love

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Free Book Friday to show you my new cover! I'm in LOVE.

WHAT LIES BENEATH
April 2012, Harlequin Desire #2152

She’s Awake. So Why Can’t She Remember?

They say she’s Cynthia Dempsey, fiancée of media mogul Will Taylor. But try as she might, she can’t recall their high-society life or the man sitting by her hospital bed. Though her body certainly remembers him. Even as she senses the distance between them, the electricity when they touch is undeniable.

Will can hardly believe Cynthia’s transformation. Gone is the ice queen who betrayed him, and in her place is a woman who seems genuine and warm. But can he risk his heart again, not knowing what might happen when her memory returns?

Shameless Bragging and Excitement

Second only to holding my book in my hand, getting the cover for my book is one of the most amazing feelings. The culmination of a lot of hard work, I get to 'see' the face of my book baby for the first time. Each and every time that email lands in my inbox I get a little giddy - I'll admit I usually squeal a teeny tiny bit - and my stomach churns with excitement and anticipation as I open the attachement.

I always worry a little - not that I've ever had reason! My editor and our Art Department are AMAZING and they always do a good job but... we all know I stress over anything and everything. If I didn't worry about whether the hero and/or heroine would have the wrong hair color or show up with a seventies mustache we know I'd just angst over something else. I think they did a fantastic job with Afterburn!

Here's the back cover copy to go along with the yummy man on the front:

Subject: Air Force Major Chase Carden
Current Status: Reluctant Iraq war hero
Mission: Keep his job
Obstacle: Captain Sabrina McAllister – his secret wife!

Before Chase shipped out, he and Rina enjoyed a sizzling night in Vegas, topping it off with a tacky mock wedding. It was a one-shot deal for both of them. Or so they thought….Because when Chase comes home, he learns that he’s very legally hitched to the feisty captain. And, funnily enough, it’s not bothering him at all…

Their mistaken union is strictly against air force rules. There’ll be hell to pay if it’s discovered. But the sex is so very, very good…

Career-driven Chase knows he has to give Rina up, for both their sakes. And he’ll think about it – once he has the willpower to leave her bed

May is going to be an amazing and jam-packed month. I can't wait!! The culmination of a project ever make you giddy? Hard work pay off in a way you didn't expect? Anything happen this week that put a grin on your face that just wouldn't leave? We'd love to hear about it!

Instigator

P.S. Our own Problem Child is guest blogging today at I (heart) Presents. Stop by and say hi! http://www.iheartpresents.com/

P.P.S. The Playfriends are participating in an online auction to aid a homeless teen and her mom. You can get more info about the auction here and see what we've donated here.

I have a cover!!

In case you missed the addition to the sidebar, I now have a cover!!

Isn't it pretty?

Honestly, it wouldn't matter what it looked like. It's my first cover and that's my name on it so it's the bestest cover ever.

I will love it always.

So let's talk covers today. Does a cool cover make you pick up the book? Have you ever not bought a book because of the cover? Do "clinch" covers make you embarrassed to read the book in public? Does it bother you if the people on the cover don't look like the characters you imagined? Do you think my cover is pretty? (If the answer to the last question is no, feel free to keep that to yourself, 'kay?)

PC

**The Secret Mistress Arrangement will be a Modern Heat (UK) Jan 09 release. We'll go through this again when I get my US cover (for April 09).

P.S. Finally, my Facebook page is active. Please come friend me! Or tell me how to find you and I'll come friend you!

(I'm still working on the MySpace one...)

It's Finally Here!

My very first cover :-D Can you tell I'm excited? I was absolutely ecstatic when I got the email from my wonderful editor. I thought it would be at least another month before I'd get my cover so I was very pleasantly surprised.

Now the fun begins. I need to update my website (I know, SP, I need to get my butt in gear). Design postcards for an upcoming promotional opportunity. Order my promo for our annual reader's luncheon. And on and on and on. :-) August will be here before I know it and somehow I feel like I'm behind the eight ball already.

On another note, my galleys also arrived by DHL the other day. I get to read the book one more time before it all becomes official and I can no longer fix the his that was supposed to be her. I'm slightly nauseous with nerves at the thought.

So, tell me, if you saw this book in the store would you pick it up?

Instigator

P.S. Congratulations to Wendy and Joyce Ann, PM's winners from yesterday! Please email her here to claim your prize. Prizes not claimed within seven days will be reawarded.