#WriteTip - Have a Media Kit by Nancy Fraser (@nfraserauthor), spotlighting her @DecadentPub '20s #Romance

Fellow Decadent Publishing author Nancy Fraser has a brand new romance out. It's set in the 20s, which is something you don't see every day. In addition to snagging an excerpt from The Mysterious Mrs. Pennybaker (which has a stunning cover, by the by), I also convinced her to give me a writing tip. As a promo-phobe, I really needed this kick in the butt.  

Have a Media Kit

by Nancy Fraser

Every author should have a standard media kit which includes the information that doesn't change (e.g., bio, media links). Once a book is contracted or, in the case of self-published, in the final stages, you can customize the kit for the individual book by adding a "fun fact", the blurb, an excerpt, and the buy links. Save the enhanced media kit to the specific book's folder on your computer. That way, no matter how many book tours you do, the information is ready to go at a click of the "attach" button. Other suggestions for the media kit: a tag line, more than one excerpt, a sample tweet, a reference recommendation.

[p.s. As the recipient of one of Nancy's media kits, I can attest to its thoroughness...]

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Fun book fact

Nancy’s grandmother was the inspiration for this book. Of French nationality, she married a U.S. businessman and moved to Detroit Michigan. Prior to settling into motherhood, she worked for Michigan Bell and was recruited into the military during WWI as a “Hello Girl”. To the best of the author’s knowledge, she did NOT moonlight as a spy!

The Mysterious Mrs. Pennybaker

by Nancy Fraser

In the Roaring Twenties…

A former Hello Girl during WWI, widowed Ariel Pennybaker served her country proudly. She now carries on her late husband’s legacy…a home for the many returning, injured soldiers.

With her year of mourning nearly at an end, she’s had enough of her self-imposed celibacy. It’s time to get back in the game.

A chance meeting with a handsome WWI aviator has her imagining thoroughly naughty thoughts. When a second man walks into her life, her naughty thoughts turn downright decadent. What better way to fulfil her fantasies than by sharing both men’s beds.

As tempting as the idea is, Ariel has a huge secret, one she must protect at all costs. And, it’s possible one or both of her lovers is not what he seems.

Excerpt

“Retired or not, I see you still possess that infamous flyboy charm.”

He shrugged, the lift of his shoulders drawing her attention to their width and the way he held himself.

“Charming beautiful women was part of basic training,” he quipped. “Right up there with learning how to fly an airplane.”

His cheeky answer set her senses on alert. “I would think the flight instruction to be far more important than lessons on charm and seduction.”

“When you get right down to it, they’re very similar. It takes finesse to handle the throttle of a plane. You have to know exactly how much pressure to put on the stick, how to maneuver the knobs, and when to let the plane go on its own.”

The smooth tenor of his voice ratcheted her heart rate up yet another notch. “Really?” she said, her breath catching in her throat.

“There’s that one moment…when the plane is hanging there in the sky. You’ve given her all the encouragement she can take, urged her as far as she can go without breaking. Then, at just the right moment, she bursts forth with a second wind, lurches forward, and bounds unfettered across the bright blue sky.”

The sudden urge to fan herself had her clenching her hands into fists and pressing them to her sides. “It must be exciting…the flying, I mean.”

“As I said, not that different from seducing a woman. Both take a light touch at first—a gentle stroke until they’re primed. Followed by a more commanding hold, just before they reach the pinnacle of their endurance.”

A low groan escaped her throat, drawing his outright laugh.

“You make flying sound a lot like copulation, Major. Surely, when you were up in the air defeating our enemies, your attention was on something other than carnal activities.”

He leaned forward until his mouth hovered scant millimeters from her ear. His warm breath fanned over her cheek. “It’s all about a successful ending, Mrs. Pennybaker. Nothing prepares you for the climax of a good dogfight or the climax of a purely sexual encounter. They should both take your breath away.”

About Nancy Fraser

Like most authors, Nancy began writing at an early age, usually on the walls and with crayons or, heaven forbid, permanent markers. Her love of writing often made her the English teacher’s pet, which, of course, resulted in a whole lot of teasing. Still, it was worth it.

Published in multiple genres, Nancy currently writes for four publishers. She has published twenty-two books in both full-length and novella format. Nancy is currently working on a Valentine’s story for 2016, her next Rock and Roll novella, the third McCade Legacy book and a second fairy tale for Decadent Publishing.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five beautiful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

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#NewRelease - Silk and Scars by Cassandra Dean (@authorCassDean), a @DecadentPub #Historical #SweetRomance

I'm delighted to welcome fellow Decadent Publishing author Cassandra Dean to my blog today. Her historical sweet romance Silk & Scars just came out, and man does it have a gorgeous cover. Here's more about the story, along with a sexy excerpt. 

Available Now!

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Silk & Scars

The Silk Series Book 3

by Cassandra Dean

For over a year, Miss Gwendolyn Parkes and the Duke of Sowrith have corresponded. At first an error, the letters quickly became something much more, a friendship forged on like minds and perhaps the hope of something more…

When Gwen is compelled by her employer to attend the duke at his Dartmoor estate, she is devastated to find her beloved friend cold and imperious, even if he is the most handsome man she’s ever seen – despite his scars.

Edward, Duke of Sowrith, has longed to meet Gwen. Arranging her passage to his estate, he is tongue-tied when confronted with her quiet beauty. All too aware of the twisted ruin of his face, he allows fear to hold him silent…until Gwen’s safety is threatened.

Finally together, they grow closer until it seems they can never again be apart – but can a commoner and a duke find a happily ever after?

Excerpt

“Edward.” Her hand slid up his lapel. Turning, he found her gray gaze upon him, a faint crease between her brows. “What is different?”

He stared into her eyes. She met his monocular gaze, no part of her expression revolted by the eye patch, the scars. He glanced at her hand, stroking his chest almost absently, her attention fully and totally on him. “When I received your letter, the one meant for Etta, it was like a ray of light, a beacon through relentless gray. So I responded and you sent your next letter and they....You were so full of joy, it bubbled out from the page and made me think perhaps I could experience it, if only a little. You had Etta, and your parents, and your employment, and though all three annoyed you on occasion, you had such…illumination.” His finger began a mad rhythm against his leg. “I’ve never had any of that. I’ve been here alone since the accident. I didn’t go to Eton. I was too ill. By the time I was old enough to attend university, I was so far behind there was no point. I went to London for the Season, but.... That did not turn out well.” Memories of horrified stares assaulted him, the whispers and notoriety that had come with his foray into society. Forcing the memories away, he said, “So I came home, and stayed.

“Then you sent me a letter. A bright, shining thing, and we corresponded and I...I wanted to meet you. So I arranged it that Beecham brought you to Sowrith, but I never thought he would not tell you, that I—” He grimaced. “You know what happened.

“Then you arrived, you were here, and I couldn’t.... There were no words. So I stood like a fool and watched you, and I wished I had the words that came so easily by pen. You were just like your letters—bright and gold and glittering, with your smile and your lightness, even when you frowned. And that was amazing to me. You are amazing to me. I wish I could…I wish I could tell you…” Finally, he looked at her.

Eyes wide, she regarded him, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Shifting his weight, he averted his gaze. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said those things. I—”

A gentle finger against his lips stilled his words, and he remained silent as her hand slipped to cup his cheek. The ruined one. Emotion shuddered through him as he absorbed her touch.

“See? You say such things and I can’t…” Her thumb tracing his cheekbone, her other hand slid up his chest to crumple his lapel as she pulled. Following her direction, he leaned down.

Tentatively, her lips brushed his.

Hardly daring to breath, he stood stock still as she hesitantly explored the shape of his mouth, her lips molding to his with small stops and starts. Her tongue darted against his lips and he shuddered, the sensation exquisite and overwhelming.

Wrapping his good arm around her, he urged her close. She came, her arms slipping about his neck as her lips opened under his. The wind tore at his hair and howled in his ears, his heart thundering in his chest. Her mouth was warm and eager, tasting of honey and gold. Of Gwen.

ABOUT CASSANDRA DEAN

Cassandra Dean is a best-selling, multi-published author of historical and fantasy romance. Her latest novel, Silk and Scorn, is part of her popular Silk Series, featuring Victorian Era lawyers and their happily ever after. Her next novel, Slumber, will be available soon from Decadent Publishing’s Beyond Fairytales, and features Cassandra’s take on Sleeping Beauty.

Cassandra is proud to call South Australia her home, where she regularly cheers on her AFL football team and creates her next tale.

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#WriteTip - Consider the Calendar by Jessica Cale (@JessicaCale), a @LSB_LSBooks #HistoricalRomance Author

Fellow Liquid Silver Books author Jessica Cale has a brand new historical romance out. In addition to snagging an excerpt from Virtue's Lady (which, incidentally, has a smoking hot cover), I also convinced her to give me a writing tip. As we all know, authenticity is important for historical settings. This author has a tip to for keeping the details straight.

Consider the Calendar by Jessica Cale

When writing fiction, it’s easy to forget special days like weekends, holidays, and birthdays unless you’re writing something around a holiday theme, but allowing for these and working them into your story is one way to anchor your writing in reality. Few weeks go by without a unusual day or two. If it’s a public holiday in America, your heroine might not get an important letter, or if it’s a Bank Holiday in Britain, the weekend before is likely to be full of parties and pub crawls.

Remembering holidays and notable days in history is especially important when writing something set in another time period or country. Christmas celebrations vary from country to country, and depending on where your story is set, there might also be feast days or important anniversaries that could help your plot along. For example, in seventeenth century England, Guy Fawkes’ Day was called Bonfire Treason Night, and it was actually the law that everyone had to celebrate. Every town was lit up with bonfires and alive with celebrations that lasted through the night. So much for staying home!

Virtue’s Lady takes place in Southwark between September and December of 1671, so my heroine, Jane, would have definitely been a part of the celebrations on November 5th. I worked this into the story and ended up with a couple of scenes that were smoking hot in more ways than one.

People love reading about different celebrations and customs. For your next project, remember the calendar, and consider including birthdays, holidays, and other notable days to enrich your plot.

Thank you for reading!

Virtue’s Lady

by Jessica Cale

Lady Jane Ramsey is young, beautiful, and ruined.

After being rescued from her kidnapping by a handsome highwayman, she returns home only to find her marriage prospects drastically reduced. Her father expects her to marry the repulsive Lord Lewes, but Jane has other plans. All she can think about is her highwayman, and she is determined to find him again.

Mark Virtue is trying to go straight. After years of robbing coaches and surviving on his wits, he knows it’s time to hang up his pistol and become the carpenter he was trained to be. He busies himself with finding work for his neighbors and improving his corner of Southwark as he tries to forget the girl who haunts his dreams. As a carpenter struggling to stay in work in the aftermath of The Fire, he knows Jane is unfathomably far beyond his reach, and there’s no use wishing for the impossible.

When Jane turns up in Southwark, Mark is furious. She has no way of understanding just how much danger she has put them in by running away. In spite of his growing feelings for her, he knows that Southwark is no place for a lady. Jane must set aside her lessons to learn a new set of rules if she is to make a life for herself in the crime-ridden slum. She will fight for her freedom and her life if that’s what it takes to prove to Mark—and to herself—that there’s more to her than meets the eye.

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Excerpt

Poor Lady Jane. She’s ruined now.

Jane’s eyebrows knit in irritation. She most certainly was not. The way she saw it, she had only begun to live.

She heard a sniff and looked up sharply to see Greta hastily wiping away a tear. Greta had been with her all of her life, and she took it hardest of all.

Jane sighed impatiently. “Please do not cry.”

“I beg your pardon, my lady.” She wiped her eyes and set down the brush, her task long since completed.

“I wish you would not be so upset. I’m not.”

Greta sank onto her stool, uncharacteristically emotional. “I blame myself. If I would have been here, I could have protected you.”

Jane turned to face her, unsure of how to handle her tears. At a loss, she offered her an embroidered handkerchief. “Truly, I am unharmed. See?” She raised her arms as if to demonstrate that she was still in one piece.

This seemed to make her cry harder.

Jane was growing impatient. “What is it?”

“But you are not! The damage to your reputation alone, the scandal! Your prospects are greatly reduced, my lady.”

“A small mercy,” she muttered. “Why would it trouble anyone that I was kidnapped, so long as I am unharmed?”

“You were gone overnight. I’m afraid they must assume the worst.”

Jane rolled her eyes. “What do they care, so long as I am wealthy?”

“Forgive me for saying, my lady, but few would willingly take a damaged wife.”

“Who says that I am damaged?”

Greta wiped her eyes and looked around the room, as if to satisfy herself they were alone. She lowered her voice and confided, “I apologize for speaking indelicately, my lady, but I know what happened.”

Jane tilted her head in confusion. “You do?”

Greta nodded. “Your small clothes. There was blood…”

Jane grasped her hand. “Does Father know?”

Greta shook her head frantically. “I daren’t tell him or Lady Hereford.”

“I beg you, please do not. They will never forgive me.”

“Forgive you?” Greta looked incredulous. “It is not your fault you were ravished, my lady.”

“Ravished?” Jane frowned. Greta had assumed the worst.

As her suitors had sharply declined in number, it was clear that everyone else had assumed the worst as well.

Jane patted Greta’s hand affectionately. “I assure you, I was not.”

Greta threw up her hands and looked away. “Of course. We should not speak of such things. I will keep your secret, and we shall pray you are not with child.” She stood at once and opened Jane’s closet, quickly sorting through the glut of pastel dresses before settling on a newer one in pale yellow.

Jane rose and obediently stood on her short stool, raising her arms to be dressed. Greta draped the yellow dress over the chair and straightened the already meticulously even laces of her stays before slipping the skirt over her head and dropping it to brush the silk stockings that covered her feet. She pulled the panels of bodice together in the back and began to lace them together from the bottom, taking care not to wrinkle any portion of the lace-edged chemise beneath.

When Jane had returned home, her father had asked her in his usual blunt fashion if she had been ravished and she had answered truthfully that she had not. He had openly wept tears of relief. Try as she might, she could not bring herself to tell him the whole of it for fear of breaking his heart.

Jane had hoped that by taking a lover, she would render herself unmarriageable and free herself to live the life of adventure that she craved, away from the responsibilities and expectations that came with being the daughter of an earl.

She had been right about the unmarriageable part.

Don't forget to check out the first book in the series...

Notorious harlot Sally Green fights for survival in Restoration London. When a brutal attack throws them together, Sally is torn between the tutor who saves her and the highwayman who keeps her up at night; between new love and an old need for revenge. Winner of the Southern Magic Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence 2015.

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About Jessica Cale

Jessica Cale is a historical romance author and journalist based in North Carolina. Originally from Minnesota, she lived in Wales for several years where she earned a BA in History and an MFA in Creative Writing while climbing castles and photographing mines for history magazines. She kidnapped (“married”) her very own British prince (close enough) and is enjoying her happily ever after with him in a place where no one understands his accent. You can visit her at www.authorjessicacale.com.

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