Yep. If you didn’t see it in an earlier post, I’m on TikTok. Be careful. It’s addictive.
Category: My Books
Released yesterday!
Geez, I forgot to post this. April 5 was the release date for my short story “Kidnapped For A Day.” It’s in the book What A Day! by the Heart of Dixie Fiction Writers.
Here’s the blurb.
Nothing like waking up in a prison cell chained to the past and a captivating woman. With only twenty-four hours to ensure their freedom, a mercenary discovers feelings he never knew existed until locked up with his sister’s best friend.
There are 11 authors total, but the biggies are NYT bestselling authors Linda Howard and Linda Winstead Jones. Be sure to pick up a copy (ebook or paperback) at all major on-line booksellers. Enjoy!
What’s Going On With Me?
I’ve been working SLOWLY on the next Southern Crime Family novel. Sen’s story. But for some reason I couldn’t concentrate on it like I should. So I decided to do sometime I’ve put off for TWO years! Yes. Count them. One, two whole frigging years. Crazy. I had previously replaced the ebook covers for The Circle Organization books, but hadn’t taken care of the paperbacks. Same design, but I needed to include the spine and back copy.
Then they really needed to be reformatted (the inners). That takes time. Plus I wanted to added excerpts for the other books. As in Circle of Desire to have Danger and Deception excerpts in the back and so on.
Doesn’t sound like much trouble, but that includes updating the lists of books. I do have a total of 11 books out. Of course, there are two that are still with RandomHouse. I haven’t decided when to ask for the rights back. I had gotten the rights from HarperCollins to The Circle books two years ago (thus the new covers), but I’ve been putting off the RH ones. Maybe because I hope to write for them again one day? *shrug*
Beyond the 11 for sale, I have 10 books written that are not published. One day soon (hopefully), I plan to rewrite most of them. Not counting, I have another hockey romance and a suspense book I plan to write. Then I might even try my hand at historical (1910s). Goodness, I need to get myself back into forward gear and get to writing.
And I also have plans to release The Circle in a bundle hopefully in the next month or so.
Moving on. As I like to include these on my website, here are copies of my latest ads. By the way, I’m on TikTok. Be sure to follow me! See. I doing a lot of stuff.
Wholly Research, I Swear
Well, like most everyone, for the last couple months I’ve been reading books and watching a lot of TV. I’ve been working the life draining day-job during my usual hours. But since there is no travel time, except a short stroll down the hallway, I’ve found myself with a little more time to goof off. Sure, I have been doing some writing, but mostly ads, tweets, FB posts, and beefing up an old historical romance manuscript. Nothing worthwhile, like writing the my second book in the Southern Crime Family series, Sen.
But oddly, by watching TV, it has given me the juice needed to write that book. I think in a way, the success of Jake had me a little worried. What if I screw up and do a lousy job on Sen? I have a wonderful romance already figured out: a half-Asian bad boy and a deaf white girl whose daddy hated Sen. A bit of Romeo and Juliet, except the girl likes the guy but isn’t in love. The guy is, madly, deeply. Don’t worry, she’ll fall as madly and deeply in love too.
So you’re probably wondering what was I watching that help my writing mojo? Justified. The TV series (2010-2015) that used to be on the FX channel. Love the story, actors, and how they had fun shooting every scene. Set in Kentucky, it reminded me about a lot of things from when I was a kid. Not so much the criminal behavior, but how family stuck together and protected each other. They may fight each other, but heaven forbid if anyone interfered or attacked a family member. It didn’t matter if you hated your cousin’s guts, you took care of that cousin and later, after the trouble was over, you proceeded with your aversion to that relative.
Another show I watched was Self Made on Netflix. Love Octavia Spencer. She’s so talented. Anything she’s in, I’ll watch. I want her to be my friend. I’m sure she’s one of the most interesting people in Hollywood (figuratively, I have no idea where she lives). The movie was uplifting, as in showing with determination you can become successful. Sometimes you have to sacrifice parts of your life to achieve that goal, but if that’s your desire, go for it! Oh, the clothes. Beautiful.
Then I started hearing from different people about a new romance movie similar to 50 Shades of Grey. I didn’t get into the Shades too much, mainly because the woman was a college student. I prefer movies, books with more mature characters. Let’s say each character to have been in the work force, full time, for a year or more. Anyway, I heard this movie was very sexy. It’s called 365 DNI on Netflix. This is my take on it, the writing could’ve been more mature, the photography was awesome, the quality of the filming was pretty good (think inside shots), the music was fine (I didn’t once think porno canned tunes), and the acting…a bit over the top a few times, but considering how good the male lead looked in and out of clothes, I can forgive it. Certainly worth watching once all the way through and a second time for the parts that were unbelievably hot.
Just a reminder, FAKE PLAY is coming out Tuesday, 6/30/20. Be sure to pre-order it and tell your friends. It will be the last of my hockey books for a while. I need to finish up the Southern Crime Family series (JAKE, SEN, and ETHAN) before I head over to a couple of bounty hunters books I want to finish. Goodness, I have so many books to finish or rewrite and get out there. You know, I did finish eleven books before number 10 became published. So number one through nine, and eleven need a chance to be read by you too.
The Circle Series
I recently updated the cover of my Facebook page for the Circle series. Love the little show of, well, you know. And be on the lookout this summer for a special deal on the series, along with the two novellas. Yes, five books.
Lastly, the two novellas have a new cover that will show up online this summer. So much to do and so little time.
What do you think?
Carla Swafford, Author 