Two releases and a giveaway!

You've never read
bedtime stories like these

Today is release day for my collection of erotic bedtime stories from the Penguin Random House romance imprint, Loveswept! What's this, you say? FANTASY, on Spacefreighters Lounge? 

Yes! But don't be fooled by the cover. In BEFORE SHE WAKES, you'll also find: 

• "The Dragonfly Prince," a post-apocalyptic, recombinant-DNA story based on my sci-fi romance novel THE OPHELIA PROPHECY. 
• "Raven Takes a Pearl" and "The Kelpie's Prize," both steampunk stories. 
• "The Garden Rules,"' a contemporary story that incorporates a fun piece of nanotech. 
•  "Willa and the Wisp," a paranormal set in post-apocalyptic New Orleans. 

That leaves a single pure-fantasy story (but...DRAGON SHIFTERS!).

Big shoutout to Laurie, who served as beta reader on this one (and, well, all the other ones). I am VERY pleased with reviews so far. This from one of my favorites: 

Pure INDULGENCE!! ... Each world was so interesting that you just couldn't help but be sucked in ... Grab this now and be prepared to be whisked away to fantastical lands! I know I was captivated throughout! (The Jeep Diva book blog)

I think I had more fun with this than I ever have with a writing project. I began it as a writing experiment. And even later when my agency encouraged me to get serious about it, I never intended to seek a traditional publisher. So I tossed out all the "rules." Each time my internal critic would nag me that a particular scene or plot twist was just going too far, I very intentionally shoved her out the door and did what I wanted. And I think that's coming through in reviewer comments. Here's another example:

For those readers with a sense of adventure who are looking for a change of pace and aren’t afraid to go there, Before She Wakes is a wonderful, sexy, titillating trip to the other side of speculative fiction, that side you’ve been curious about but until now, haven’t been brave enough to try. Be bold. Take the plunge. And have some fun. (Books, Bones & Buffy book blog)

If you'd like to test-drive this one, you can read the most sci-fi story  ("The Dragonfly Prince") free. 

Sworn enemies. Dark secrets.
One last hope for peace.

And in related news ...

I got the rights to THE OPHELIA PROPHECY back earlier this year, so it has been out of print for a while. This new story collection got me motivated to get it out there again. (Especially considering "The Dragonfly Prince" was my editor's favorite, and it's a favorite of Goodreads reviewers as well.) So this is a double release week! The best part is it has a lovely new cover (by the fabulous Danielle Fine) and a significantly lower e-price than the original release. For the time being it's only available for Kindle. 

In celebration of the releases, I'm giving away 3 e-books. You can choose the title that you prefer (keeping in mind OPHELIA is Kindle-only for now). In the comments, name a fairy tale you think would make a great SFR retelling, OR list what human/animal transgenic organism you think would be the coolest to see. (I'll know your choice of books based on that. Be sure to give me a way to contact you!)

Happy release day! 

"Fantasies in Color" Finds a Home

Second story (steampunk)
in Fantasies in Color, original cover

Last year I blogged a little about an erotica project I’d been working on, a series called Fantasies in Color. At first it was just for fun, and maybe a little part of me wondered if I could do it. As it turned out, it WAS fun. (See my post on Smart Girls Love SciFi: Death to the Dirty Little Secret.) And my beta readers liked it and convinced me I should do something with it. 

It seemed like a great way to dip a toe into indie publishing, but after initial steps in that direction, I realized I was in way over my head. I’m going to hazard a guess that I’m not the only one who noticed that over the last twelve months the whole author thing got exponentially harder. 

Discoverability. Attracting new readers. Effective promo. These days it takes far more than “getting the word out” to impact sales. And if like me you have a family and a day job, you can end up spending a heckuvalot of your precious writing time on activities with a very low return. 

After talking to the digital specialist at my literary agency while attending Digital Book World in January, it dawned on me that what I really wanted was to be back in partnership with a publisher. 

I know that a lot of folks think major publishers are going the way of the dinosaurs. But over the last few weeks as my agent submitted my series to her editor connections, I began to see that these guys are still very much in the game. They are putting a lot of planning and resources into marketing their digital imprints, and they are making competitive offers for content. 

Does that mean they know more about promo than Hugh Howey? I can tell you they definitely know more about it than me. And they have whole teams of people doing the stuff that was slowly draining away my writing time. 

Loveswept, the digital imprint for romance
at Penguin Random House

That’s what led me to accept an offer we received last week for my Fantasies in Color series. In fact we had two strong offers. After a little back and forth on numbers and a one-on-one discussion with each editor, I had to make a very tough decision. In the end we chose Penguin Random House’s Loveswept imprint. 

The contract is for six novelette-length stories, which will be published individually and in anthologies. My agent refers to them as vignettes, and I think it’s a good description. All of the stories are speculative and to some degree geeky. The first, THE GARDEN RULES, is a modern story with a fantasy setting, and it includes a cool bit of biotech. The second, RAVEN TAKES A PEARL, is a steampunk story with an archetypal trickster figure as its hero.

I don’t have dates to announce yet, but I expect the first story will be out in early 2016. I’m excited about this new publishing adventure, and I hope you’ll stick around to see how it plays out! (To stay up-to-date on release dates, etc., sign up for my author newsletter.)