Your favorite romance authors. Their favorite recipes.

Quite frequently on Twitter, people will mention some great new recipe they’ve tried or post pictures of something they’ve just cooked or baked. The result is a number of followers asking for a recipe. Those with a web site will post it on their blog, and others will simply post the recipe to Twitter.

It struck me that what better way to promo ourselves, our recipes and our books than to combine them all in one place? So in a stroke of mania (yeah, I do have those bouts. Don’t judge me. lol), I grabbed a Blogspot address, a domain name, a Twitter account, a Facebook page and an email address… all belonging to RomanceCooks.com. The next day I rigged an icon for it too. I sent out a call for participants and in under 24-hours, every slot was taken.

So, starting February 1st, you can go to RomanceCooks.com (add it to your blog reader!) and check out a new author with one of their favorite recipes. Some authors have linked the recipe to a book, even.

I’m not sure if this will be as well received on the reader-side as it has been on the author-side, but I absolutely love the idea and stand behind it 100%. Hopefully, with enough interest I’ll be able to most posts from one a week to two a week. (Any more than that I think is overkill, but that’s just me.)

Join me on 2.1.2012 for the launch, will you?

All the Best,

Lust. It’s one of those four-letter words that trips off the tongue. When I say it out loud, it makes my lips want to curve into a smile. Lust is more than simple arousal; it is the force that makes us not just turned on, but craving a certain person (or people).

So what exactly constitutes a woman in lust? Maybe one who knows exactly what she wants from her partner, whether it’s something kinky (as in Charlotte Stein’s Guess) or one who knows exactly what kind of man turns her on (as in Del Carmen’s Ride a Cowboy). None of these women make any excuses for their naughty thoughts or outrageous behavior. And why should they?

Read more about this erotic anthology, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel here and most definitely, go buy it here. I have my copy and on these cool Fall nights, the stories certainly know how to warm my blood.

Wait. Am I losing you here?

Oh, fine.

So this past April (just bear with me here a minute, would ya? Sheesh. So impatient.) Anyway, as I was saying, this past April at the Romantic Times convention, women I respect kept dropping this particular name. I’d never heard of this person before (sorry–I live in a shell), but people twittered in her path. (Can you believe it? Twittered! I know!!) Anyway, after a day or two I made a decision. At the publisher spotlight, I walked right up to the editor-in-chief, held out my hand and looked her in the eye. “Hi,” I said. “My name is Dee Carney. I want you to be able to put a face to the name.”

Arrogant, aren’t I? *shrug*

Four months later, ladies and gentleman, I received my first contract at her publishing house. Which house, you’re still wondering? (Probably shrieking) Well, Morgan Sierra wrote a kinky little tale about a woman with a naughty bdsm fantasy…and Ellora’s Cave has decided they want to publish it.

Go me.

Twitterverse already knows, but I had to document here for posterity…I sent my submission for the Mills & Boon Medical Romance Fast Track call this past Sunday. Because I’m knee deep in edits for THREE (yes, I will keep harping on that) stories at once, I only had time to write one chapter and the synopsis for them. And every hour I checked my seekrit pen name’s email for a response.

Today it came.

Just a side bar… (don’t you love how I build tension! ) I’ve never before had print publication aspirations. I’m quite content in the epub world. It’s just that I’ve been telling anyone who will listen for some time that I want to write a medical romance. And then I saw the call. Fate, no?

Anyway…(drum roll, please!) this morning I received a reply. They’d like to see more!! Now, she didn’t quite request a full, but she was very complimentary about my writer’s voice–and who doesn’t love to hear that?–and requested some changes to the current story–done!–but the bottom line is that HARLEQUIN WANTS TO SEE MORE!!

So poor Charlotte and Smith (from my WIP, Neatly Tangled) will have to wait again to get their rocks off. I have medical romance to write.

Been curious about my books, but living within your budget? Here’s your chance.

p.s. authors–the sale doesn’t affect your bottom lines. Promote away!

Via Smart Bitches

I’m with some great houses, no doubt about that.  For me however, there is one dream publisher that had always signified to me that if I got in there, I’d made it. That publisher is Loose Id. The funny thing was, I’ve never given a serious attempt at getting in with them as much as I lusted after having a title published there. (Actually, I did once–a long time ago–but with a story that was in severe need of help.) Late last year I decided to change that and started subbing. My first submission resulted in a revise and resubmit request from an editor there. Un/fortunately, someone else offered to publish the story and I didn’t think much about doing the requested revisions. Months go by and the same editor emailed me to say she was looking for a paranormal menage. I told her I’d write one; my first 2010 goal was to write something Loose Id wanted to publish, no matter how many times I had to try. I ended up writing Interdependence exclusively for Loose Id with no intention of sending it elsewhere. Long story short, (I know, it’s too late), yesterday I received a contract offer for that story. Anticipated release date will be summer 2010.

New Year’s Day this year, I had this burning need to see my name in print. Since I’ve never written anything long enough for a NY publishing house, I set my 2nd goal for 2010 as writing something long enough for print (whether published by NY or an e-house). I’ve started writing The Traitor Prince–my first attempt at writing something longer than 50,000 words. The goal is 80,000. But then, I let Eliza Gayle talk me to into attending Romantic Times convention for the first time year as well. She suggested that my Craft of the Wise series would make a great print book if I combined all four stories. I talked to my publisher, and long story short (too late, I know!), today I received an email which said that dream is going to be reality. I’m going into print, y’all.

Man…I don’t know what’s coming the remaining 11 months of this year, but I can’t hardly wait!

I’ve heard a few rumblings about certain authors over the past several months and I gotta tell you, the rumblings are there for a reason. Recently I bought Joey Hill’s A Witch’s Beauty (http://www.storywitch.com) and loved, loved, loved it! I’m hearing much about Victoria Dahl (www.victoriadahl.com), so I have plans to pick up one or two of her titles. And of course, I would have never picked up the addictive Black Dagger Brotherhood series without much said about JR Ward (www.jrward.com).

You tell me, what other authors have you read (besides yourselves, people!) and would pimp without hesitation? If you don’t like that question, here’s another for you: Have you ever picked up an author *just* because there’s been so much hype about that person? Was it a good or bad experience?

Although this is supposed to be great news, something tells me I better start writing faster.