Y is for Year in Review

Debra reflects on her writing year.

In many ways, 2016 has been a successful writing year for me.

*I released four (out of the five) novellas in my Holidays at The Corral series. And although none flew off the shelves, it was nice having a release every few months or so.

*In the spring, I participated in the BadRedHead Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge which had me create a Twitter account (Which I need to be better at using.) and to rethink how I use my Facebook page (I still need to work on that.) among other things.

*Valentine's Day at The Corral took third place in the IDA short contemporary category.

*This Feels Like Home was part of Amazon's July romance sale, which increased sales on that title greatly. (Still not enough by any stretch of the imagine to consider it to be 'making a living' with my writing, but it was nice to see bigger numbers in sales, at least for that title.)

*A Christmas to Remember was offered for free this past weekend as part of The Wild Rose Press's tenth anniversary celebration. (Always good for publicity.)








*And just this week I launched my crazy #sellathousand challenge for New Year's Eve at The Corral.
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*As always, I've enjoyed blogging here at HWH to share tidbits, insights, posts, encouragement, and excitement with my fellow bloggers. I am most grateful to have you all in my life.

When I look at that list, I feel pretty good. :)

However, the latter part of the year, as I've mentioned before, has been a bit frustrating in the 'getting something written' area of life, but I have high hopes that will turn around soon. It's been really nice this week delving back into 'writing life' as I've worked on getting my challenge ready. And while it hasn't (yet) nudged me enough to sit down and work on a WIP, like I said, in this season of hope and miracles, anything is possible!

As we head into the last week of the year (WHERE did the time go?!) I look forward to ushering out the old and welcoming the new with a bright new outlook.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A is for Amber

Amber is the heroine in Debra's This Feels Like Home

When I set out to write my Corral series, I knew one of my heroes would be Jake. And I always knew his book would be the third and last installment in the series. I knew Jake. I knew what his story was going to be about. In the letter to the reader at the beginning of the book it says this about Jake:

Jake was the guy always there for his friends, and who often helped them find their way down true love's path but planned on steering clear of love for himself, so he could focus on his rodeo career. But of course, we all know it takes just the right woman to come along and change a hero's mind, so I brought Amber into Jake's life.

Phrased like that, it seems simple. But actually bringing Amber into Jake's life was a lot harder than it sounds. I had a really difficult time finding someone who was good enough for Jake. I'd gotten to know Jake pretty well during the first two books, and I also knew whoever would ultimately be his heroine had to be pretty darn special. Worthy of my Jake.

Even coming up with a name for her wasn't easy. I went through oodles and oodles of lists and nothing sounded right. I wanted something with at least two syllables to off-set the single syllable of Jake. Finally while driving from here to there at some point, we passed a road called 'Winfield'. I liked the sound of it, and at least now I had a last name. Eventually, her first name came to me, and Amber Winfield was born.

Amber started out as a lawyer from Chicago. She'd be visiting her cousin and come across small town country boy Jake. The crux of their conflict would be the country boy/city girl lifestyle. A bit cliche, but I figured I could make it work.

Or not. I got a 'rejection' the first time I submitted. More of a...if you want to make some changes I'd love to look at this again type deal. One of the things the editor (not my usual one) said was definitely not working was Amber's job.

Okaaaaay.....

Since it was the third in a series, I wasn't going to give up on it, but changing her job was a HUGE deal. It wasn't just substituting another career for every time I mentioned the word 'lawyer'. There were pages and pages and entire scenes that had to be cut, revisited, changed. One suggestion the editor made was to shorten the book. Instead of making it a full-length, why not go with a novella?

Well, for several reasons. One, I'd still need to do something about her job, so shortening it didn't help there, and two, the first two books in the series were full-length available in print stories, and I wanted a matching set. Yes, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to stuff like that.

So eventually Amber wound up as a Certified Accessibility Consultant and Counselor. (Don't ask me how I got there. I seriously have no idea.) To quote Jake, "Now that's a mouthful." What it basically boils down to is Amber works with recently disabled people to help them try and cope with their new circumstances. Not only was this much, much less mundane than a lawyer, it helped add a layer of conflict to the story. Many of Amber's clients are people who have been injured doing extreme sports gone wrong. Jake, as a bull rider, is virtually addicted to the danger that has changed her clients' lives forever.

And thus a tag line was born: Can a danger-addicted cowboy and a safety-conscious urbanite ever see eye to eye?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

P.S. As an interesting aside, I was asked if I wanted this book to be part of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program, which basically means Kindle would have the exclusive rights to the e-book version of this story. In turn, they publicize the heck out of it as part of the program, which ultimately should lead to more sales. I was torn. Seeing that it was part of a series and I wanted readers to be able to get all three books no matter where they shopped, I eventually declined. Through a mix up with my publisher, the title did wind up as a Kindle Unlimited. The owner of TWRP called me in person to apologize for the mix up. In the long term, however, it's been a good thing. When I got my royalty statement just this last week, I had sold over 100 copies of This Feels Like Home during the first quarter of the year. Now, granted, that won't get me on any best seller lists, however, it's a big jump from where sales had been before. AND this is a book that is three years old. MAYBE (or not) I've sold 100 copies total in the last three years, so that many all in one quarter is huge. And very exciting.

Now for this month, the book is part of Kindle's summer promotion and is on sale for the entire month of July. I'll be very curious to look at my sale's numbers for the second and third quarters of the year.

R is for Rodeo

The rodeo features prominently in Debra's Corral series.

I've always loved the rodeo. I don't know specifically how my interest began, it's just always kind of been there in my life. So it was a no brainer that when I started writing my first book, I knew it would feature the rodeo in some way. In fact, the rodeo plays a role in all three books in the series.

In This Time for Always we're first introduced to the rodeo in town when Sharlie and her buddy Zach attend the annual event. Here's how the MC describes it:

“Rodeo is America’s favorite sport. We say this ‘cause it comes from the heart of America, right here on her soil. Rodeo isn’t derived from any other sport or from any other country. These boys are America, and the sport is from her land.”

In This Can't Be Love, the rodeo is more in the background, but Sharlie's conversation with Jessica clues us (and her) in on Zach's growing feelings.

“Zach’s never brought someone to the rodeo before.”
“What?” The comment was unexpected.
Sharlie nodded. “Before Logan moved back, Zach and I came to the rodeo every year together. Now it’s been the three of us. But he’s never made it a foursome.” She looked down at the stroller she pushed in front of her. “Well, a fivesome, I guess.”
Jessica hid her shock. “I find that hard to believe.”
Sharlie shrugged.
“Never?”
“Never.”
“But, he’s had women in his life, right? I mean girlfriends?”
“Some,” Sharlie admitted. “But I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Jessica swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“He’s happy. Don’t get me wrong,” the other woman laughed, “I’m not saying he was miserable before. But now, it’s different.” She glanced over at Jessica. “It’s good.”
Jessica didn’t comment. What could she say? She sipped her drink, hoping the cold beverage would dissolve the huge lump in her throat.
“I think he’s falling in love with you.”
Jessica choked. The soda burned as it went down the wrong way. “What?” Her heart sped.
Sharlie smiled. “I’ve known Zach a long time. He’s never been like this with anyone else. I can tell by looking at him. By the way he looks at you.”
Jessica forced down the panic rising in her throat. Zach couldn’t be falling in love with her. Their relationship was about sex, not love.

And finally in This Feels Like Home, Jake is a bullrider, so naturally lots of the action takes place at the rodeo. Here's how Amber, a certified disability counselor, feels the first time she watches Jake ride.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our bull is Hot Tamale and we’ve got Jake Hawkins on top of him.”
The crowd’s anticipation thickened at the mention of Jake’s name. Amber held her breath.
“This bull tips the scales at well over two thousand pounds. He’s literally a ton of fun.”
She glared in the direction of the announcer’s box but then quickly returned her gaze to Jake.
Inside the chute, he sat atop the enormous beast. The animal snorted and tossed its head. Its curved horns clanked against the metal bars.
Her heart lurched and dropped into her stomach.
Jake moved forward on the bull. He nodded. The cowboy in the ring pulled the chute gate open with a rope. With a twist of its massive head the giant bull jumped out into the ring. As it turned in a tight circle, it kicked its strong legs out behind. Its front hooves pounded the dirt again and again.
Time froze. Amber couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Eight seconds lasted a lifetime as Jake fought to stay balanced on the monster. He sat tall upon its back. One hand gripped the bull rope. The other stayed above his head as the wildly thrashing animal tried to unseat him. His body bowed and flexed like a rag doll as the creature jerked him about.
Finally the buzzer sounded.
Jake dismounted, landing on his feet as the crowd screamed its approval. The bullfighters rushed in to guide the still-kicking bull back to the large, middle chute. With one final toss of its head, it cantered down the center alley. The gate swung shut behind it.
Jake took off his hat and dropped to one knee. He bowed his head. His lips moved as he murmured a prayer. Then he stood and waved at the cheering crowd, before he gathered his bull rope and exited the arena.
Amber’s breath whooshed out as the tension drained from her body. Her fingers trembled, and she fumbled to unscrew the cap on her water bottle. With greedy gulps, she chugged the cool, refreshing liquid
into her parched throat. Around her the crowd went wild as Jake’s score was announced.
“No one should be able to beat that.” Sharlie fairly glowed with pride.
Amber merely nodded. She didn’t care about his score. All that mattered was Jake was safe.

Until next time,

Cowboy Up!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

J is for Jessica, Joe, Jason, Jake, and Jesse

Apparently Debra likes names that begin with J.

I never really thought too much about it until I sat down to write my J post for this blog series. A lot of my characters have names that start with J. I didn't plan this. Or do it on purpose. It just kind of happened. So I might as well introduce them to you by sharing their portion of the blurb for their story:

Jessica Hart is the heroine in This Can't Be Love.
After the disastrous end of another dead-end relationship, all Jessica Hart wants is solitude and time to heal at her grandfather's mountain retreat. Instead she finds Zach Rawlings. Zach is everything she wants to escape. As she gets to know him better, she realizes there's more to him than meets the eye. But can she trust her heart to a man like Zach?

Joe Mason is the hero in An Unexpected Blessing.
Joe Mason is the town's bad boy. Literally. He's just returned from a four year stint in prison. He wants nothing more than to put the past behind him and get on with his life. He's had a secret crush on Katy since grade school, but when Katy's parents hire him to be their handyman, she's less than thrilled to have him around. But soon, through her young son's eyes, Katy discovers the good in Joe. As their feelings for one another deepen, small town gossip and prejudice threaten to ruin everything. Will Joe's past come between them, or will they be able to get beyond it and hold onto a love neither expected?

Jason Williams is the hero in One Great Night.
Call him a bit old-fashioned, but Jason Williams has never had a one-night stand. And he's not about to start with his best friend's baby sister. To save Chloe from herself, he will pretend to go along with her crazy scheme. But what happens when the charade becomes all too real? For his libido and his heart.

Jake Hawkins is the hero in This Feels Like Home.
Jake's got one goal--earn enough points to ride on the pro circuit--and he won't let anyone stand in his way. Especially not a sophisticated city lady who thinks bull riding is crazy. Women like Amber are the reason he's perfected the art of loving and leaving. So why can't he get her off of his mind...or out of his heart?

Jesse Rhodes will be the hero in the yet-to-be-written "Written in Rock", the first book planned for a new series I'd like to write.
Jesse is a country rock star on a roll. Right now he's the biggest name in country music. Publicity is all part of the game, but he hates the press. He blames the tabloids for the failure of his marriage. So the heroine is going to be a reporter. Should make for some interesting conflict I hope.

So, in addition to all of these J names, I noticed another trend. I tend to end many of my blurbs with a question. Now isn't that interesting? (LOL)

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

P.S. Starting tomorrow (9/11), One Great Night will be entered in TRR's Readers' Choice Awards - Winter 2015. For the first round, it needs 50 nominations. So, I'd appreciate it if you'd head over to http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=18838 and vote. Thanks!

Sunday Snippet - A Peek at Debra's "This Feels Like Home"

This Feels Like Home is the third book in Debra's The Corral series.

Chapter One

Jake Hawkins spotted the newcomer right away.

Her fancy clothes made her look as out of place as boots on a chicken. No one in the entire state of Texas would wear a fancy sweater and dress slacks to the Corral. Not to mention heels so thin they looked like they’d snap if she tried to walk on them.

But his gaze didn’t linger too long on her attire. Instead, he studied her as best he could from across the bar. She leaned toward her friend, elbow on the table, chin resting in her hand. Her legs were crossed. One foot waved in the air. She wore her dark hair up in some kind of twist. As she gestured, her features settled into a frown. He wished he could tell what color her
eyes were.

“Order, please.”

He swiveled in his seat to face one of the waitresses. “Hey, sugar, what’s up?”

She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Not much. Busy night.”

He nodded. “Glad I don’t have door duty tonight.”

The bartender approached. “What do you need, Tina?”

“Hey, Nick.” She consulted her notes. “I need four regulars, three lites, a cola, and a cosmopolitan.”

Jake frowned. “A what?”

She rolled her eyes. “Table twenty-two.” She jerked her head toward the back of the bar. “Out of towner wants a cosmopolitan.”

Jake didn’t need to glance in the direction she indicated. He could have guessed anyone dressed like that wouldn’t order anything as mundane as a beer. “Do you know how to make one of those?” he asked.

“Of course. I can make anything,” Nick said.

“What’s in it?”

“Vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and a splash of lime. If I want to be really fancy, I’ll garnish it with a lime wedge.” He grinned. “Want to try one?”

Jake grimaced. “No, thanks.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Do you think she wants a little umbrella in it too?”

“Nope. Those are only for tropical drinks. Margaritas. Daiquiris.”

“Of course they are.”

“So you’re part of the big auction tonight, huh?” Nick opened a cooler behind the bar and took out the beer.

Jake ducked his head. “Yeah.” He shifted in his seat.

“You don’t sound so thrilled.”

“I prefer to get my own dates, thanks. But it’s for a good cause. I couldn’t say no to Sharlie.”

“I thought maybe you were hard up and this was the only way you could get a date.”

“Yeah, right. I can get a date with anyone in this place.”

“How about that guy over there?” Nick pointed. “He looks lonely.”


“Ha-ha.”
“Seriously though, you have dated almost every female in this place. In fact, I’ve never seen you with the same girl twice.”

“And you never will.” Love ’em and leave ’em was his motto. And he made damn sure he was the one who did the leaving.

“You ever going to settle down with one woman?”

“Nope.” He’d come close once. Once had been enough. “Where’s the fun in that?” He forced a note of levity into his voice to dispel the unwanted reminder of the past.

Nick’s gaze roamed around the bar as he rocked a silver shaker in his hand. He poured the pink mixture into a stemmed glass. “So, you can get a date with anyone in the bar, hey? Care to make it interesting?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Fifty bucks says you can’t get a date…hell, make it a dance…with Ms. Cosmo.” He held up the drink.

Jake snorted. “I thought you were going to make it something difficult.” He stood.

“She’s not your usual type. Think you can handle it?”

Jake grinned. “It’s going to be a pleasure taking your money.” He adjusted his hat, settling it into position. “I prefer cash, by the way.”

Nick held out his fist and Jake bumped his own against it. “Break a leg.”

Jake chuckled. “I hope not. I’m riding next weekend.” Anticipation curled in the pit of his stomach. Adrenaline coursed through him as if he were in the ring instead of the bar. There was nothing in the world like facing off against a ton of muscled flesh and sinew.

But for now, a more immediate challenge claimed his interest.

This Feels Like Home is available through The Wild Rose Press and other major book markets.

B is for Bull Rider

Debra's Jake Hawkins is a champion bull rider.

There's not much of anything that's more cowboy than a bull rider. From his hat to his boots and the vest, chaps, and spurs in between...it's the quintessential cowboy look. And my little heart is not immune to the look nor the charm of the man beneath the hat.

I first fell in love with the rodeo and its bull riders when my hubby (back when he was merely 'the boyfriend') decided he wanted to ride bulls. He gave it a whirl a few times, wound up with some major injuries, and decided to hang up his spurs. For me, however, the love affair continued.

So I guess it's only natural that many of my romances have a cowboy/country theme. But so far, I've only written about one actual bull rider: Jake Hawkins.

We first meet Jake in This Time for Always, the first book in my Corral series. He's a secondary character, but I always knew he'd have a story of his own some day. This Feels Like Home is Jake's story.

The letter to the reader at the beginning of the book tells us a bit about Jake:

For those of you familiar with the first two books in the series, you’ll know all about this story’s hero, Jake. Jake is the third of a trio of characters I thought up way back when I first had the dream to write a romance novel.
Jake was the guy always there for his friends, and who often helped them find their way down true love’s path but planned on steering clear of love for himself, so he could focus on his rodeo career. But of course, we all know it takes just the right woman to come along and change a hero’s mind, so I brought Amber into Jake’s life.

Amber is an interesting contrast to the danger-addicted cowboy. She's a certified accessibility consultant and counselor who knows all too well the hazards of extreme sports gone wrong.

I wanted my story to be as authentic as possible, so I attended lots of rodeos, took copious notes, a million pictures, and 'haunted' the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) web-site.

Here are some of my favorite photos, taken at the Big Hat Rodeo, all in the name of research, of course!

Until next time,

Cowboy Up!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

This Feels Like Home is available from The Wild Rose Press.

Can a danger-addicted cowboy and a safety-conscious urbanite ever see eye-to-eye?

When Chicago native Amber Winfield visits her aunt in Texas, she's happy to absorb some local color--but dating a bull rider? That's more cowboy than she's prepared to go. As an accessibility consultant, she knows too well the hazards of extreme sports. Just one night with Jake Hawkins, though, and she's captivated by the caring man underneath the cowboy swagger. But she could never fall for a man so intent on chasing danger...could she?

Jake's got one goal--earn enough points to ride on the pro circuit--and he won't let anyone stand in his way. Especially not a sophisticated city lady who thinks bull riding is crazy. Women like Amber are the reason he's perfected the art of loving and leaving. So why can't he get her off of his mind...or out of his heart?

I'm a Boxed Set!

Debra's Corral Series has just been released as a boxed set.

When I set out to write my first book, I always knew I wanted it to be the first of a trilogy. Earlier this year, the trilogy was completed. The Corral series, as I call it based on the bar where many of the scenes in all three books take place, includes: This Time for Always, This Can't Be Love, and This Feels Like Home. At that point, I figured my dream had pretty much come true. I'd written my series, and it was probably time to move on to something new. (Or continue with some spin off stories, but that's another story in itself!)

Then I remembered that earlier in the year the marketing rep at TWRP sent an e-mail asking about authors with books in a series in order to put together boxed sets on the site. I told her about mine. At the time, Home was still very new, and she said she wanted to give it some time to be a stand-alone before boxing it up with the others. I let that sit on the back burner for most of the year. A couple of months ago I looked back in my archived e-mails and found the original one. I e-mailed the rep and asked if enough time had passed so that we could get the set going.

From there things went quickly. We sent a few ideas back and forth and came up with a blurb:

A small town where good friends gather and rugged cowboys fall in love.

She sent me a couple ideas for cover art, and I chose the one I liked best.

Finally she asked when I wanted the set to be released. I could pick a Thursday. Any Thursday. So I chose last week.

And wa la...I now have a boxed set of my series available in e-book format at TWRP, Amazon, and Barnes and Nobel.

To say I'm tickled pink and thrilled is an understatement. It's like that Brad Paisley song about him thinking life can't get any better...and then it does.

I'm a boxed set!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Surprise Release Date

A week of pleasant surprises for Debra.

Early this week I received an e-mail letting me know I could now buy my author copies of This Feels Like Home. I was a bit confused, since it wasn't scheduled for release until January, but I figured with the holidays approaching, maybe my publisher was trying to get ahead of the game. Turns out the paperback is already available on the TWRP web-site and through Amazon. Apparently it's part of a new plan to have the paperbacks released at the same time the digital format goes to Amazon. I guess paperbacks don't effect the exclusivity of an Amazon-only release to qualify for their KDP freebie incentive, which Home will have later this month. The official world-wide release date in venues other than Amazon will remain at the end of January. Is your head spinning yet? Because mine is.

But it was still pretty thrilling to be able to order copies of my book. I haven't had a paperback release in a couple of years. So now I'll be anxiously waiting for that box to arrive on my porch.

Of course the somewhat down-side to this is I haven't even thought about publicity for this release yet. Well, I have one blog date scheduled for the end of January. So I'm in a bit of a dilemma. Do I do a frantic immediate scramble to find places to promote this new book or do I stick with the original plan and promote it when it has its official world-wide digital release? What I'll probably do is a little bit of both. At the very least I have to update my web-site with some new links.

Which brings us to another fun surprise for the week...

A Yahoo! alert (If you don't use alerts for your name and book titles I highly recommend that you start right now!) came up with my name. I clicked on the link and found that Home had been listed on this week's Happily Ever After blog at USA Today. Wow! (Click HERE for the link.) So a great big, HUGE thanks to author Sara Humphreys for including me on her list. I was thrilled and honored to say the least. (For more on Sara you can visit her web-site: http://sarahumphreys.com)

I love pleasant surprises, don't you?!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Coming Soon...

...to the book venue of your choice.

This week I got lots of great release information for This Feels Like Home!

The book, the third in my "The Corral" series, will be available in Kindle from Amazon starting September 25, 2013. That's just a couple of weeks away!

It will have it's Kindle freebie days from November 19-23, 2013.

And then the most exciting news, it will be released world-wide in paperback and e-format on January 24, 2104!

It's been a long time since I've had a paperback book available, so this one is really fun for me. And I'm so thrilled to have finally written, sold, and have in book format the third book in my series. I've been dreaming about this moment for many, many years. When I first wrote This Time for Always, I always envisioned it as the first of three books in a set/series. This Can't Be Love came next, and now it's almost time for This Feels Like Home.

Anyone who wants to join in the Happy Dancing is more than welcome!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Is There Such a Thing as a Final Edit?

This morning I completed my edits on the galley for This Feels Like Home. This time through, we weren't looking for editing choices, but formatting and other errors. Even at this stage of the game, the mss has been through several other rounds of edits, I found a few mistakes. That always amazes me, because it seems like no matter how many sets of 'eyes' look at a mss, it never seems to be enough. I feel fortunate that my books go through many rounds of edits with my editor at TWRP. With Home, not only did it go through the regular round of edits, it also went through several rounds of revisions before being offered a contract. And of course before I even submitted it, I went through it several times with a fine tooth come. But, no matter how fine the teeth, something always seems to get through.

For each round of the official, post-contract edits, we look for different things, so perhaps that's what gets in the way of finding those lingering pesky errors. In the first round, in addition to correcting typos and such we were also making changes to phrasing and story continuity. The second round was a bit more of the same. Both of these rounds are done with the 'track changes' feature in Word, so perhaps that's why some of the misspellings and incorrect punctuation slip through. It's sometimes difficult to see those kinds of mistakes with all of the strike-throughs and comments on the page as well.

After that we got to the pre-galley stage. Here we were focused on mainly spelling and usage errors, but if I really, really wanted to edit/revise something, I could, so long as those types of changes were kept to a minimum. In the galley stage it was strictly for errors. No revising allowed. I found an extra set of quotation marks around some dialogue, the word glace instead of glance, a blank line, and two places where italics should have been used but hadn't been. Now the italics should have been fixed in the pre-galley and weren't, but no biggie. And the blank line was simply a formatting issue. But the misused word and the extra punctuation...how in the world had those been missed when I've looked at the mss a million times, my editor has looked at the mss a million times, and the copy edit department had a read-through?

And of course I found places where I wanted to change something, but knew at this stage that I couldn't. At this point, the story is told and nothing about that is going to change. This happens with every story, right? Eventually you just need to let it go and send it out into the world. If we were allowed to, I think we'd keep editing and revising and editing and revising forever...and then no one would ever get to read our books. And wouldn't that be a sad state of affairs?! :)

My editor thanked me for taking the time to go through the mss so thoroughly again. The next step will be to send it to production for the PDF of the final release format (There may or may not be an approval step in there.) and a release date. Yippie! (The galley showed a copyright of 2014, so I'm guessing early next year.) I know I'll be tempted to look through that ready-to-be-published copy when I get it, and I'm sure I'd find a few errors that were missed. But, at that point it will be too late to do anything about it. If there are mistakes, I guess I have to chalk it up to everyone's human and everyone makes mistakes. And I know for a fact my book won't be the only one out there with errors. I'll just have to grimace and bear it when I do my first read-through of the book when I have the paperback in my eager little hands!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Another New Cover!

To say I'm blown away by the cover for This Feels Like Home is an understatement. I just love, love, love it. It is so perfect for the story. It might just be my favorite of all of my covers so far.

And on that note, I'll just let it speak for itself...

Can a danger-addicted cowboy and a safety-conscious urbanite ever see eye-to-eye?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

The Art of Writing THE BLURB

I always thought I was pretty good at coming up with the back cover blurb for my books. For This Feels Like Home I came up with this:

The last thing Amber Winfield wants, or needs, is a rodeo cowboy. She never imagined she'd be having a fling with one. Then again, she never imagined she'd meet someone like Jake Hawkins. Soon she comes to realize a one night stand with the sexy cowboy wasn't enough. Despite his dangerous career, Amber finds herself falling for the charming bull rider.

Jake's one goal in life is to ride the pro-circuit, and he won't let anything - or anyone - stand in his way. So why can't he get city gal Amber off of his mind...or out of his heart?

It gives the basic GMC and falls within the 100 to 150 word guideline set by my publisher.

Yesterday I got an e-mail from my editor. Wild Rose now has a blurb committee which reviews blurbs. These ladies really know their stuff. Here's what came back:

Can a danger-addicted cowboy and a safety-conscious urbanite ever see eye-to-eye?

When Chicago native Amber Winfield visits her aunt in Texas, she’s happy to absorb some local color—but dating a bull rider? That’s more cowboy than she’s prepared to go. As an accessibility consultant, she knows too well the hazards of extreme sports. Just one night with Jake Hawkins, though, and she’s captivated by the caring man underneath the cowboy swagger. But she could never fall for a man so intent on chasing danger…could she?

Jake’s got one goal—earn enough points to ride on the pro circuit—and he won’t let anyone stand in his way. Especially not a sophisticated city lady who thinks bull riding is crazy. Women like Amber are the reason he’s perfected the art of loving and leaving. So why can’t he get her off of his mind…or out of his heart?


My first reaction was "WOW!" My second reaction was, "I need to buy these ladies a drink." They really dug into my story (and obviously read either all or part of it). My final reaction was, "Hmn? I still have a lot to learn about this whole writing business, don't I?" And that's really the fun part. Writing of any sort is always a work in progress. I learn something new with each and every project.

So I wrote back to my editor, "WOW! I LOVE it!" She then sent along the approval, which will now allow the cover art process to begin. We're moving right along! How exciting!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A Difference of Opinion

I am knee deep on my first round of edits for This Feels Like Home. In the long run I don't mind edits because the end result will be a better book, but this is my first time through working with a new editor, and that makes things, shall we say?, interesting. In my time with TWRP this is the third editor I've worked with, and each one has created something of a new learning curve as I get a feel for their preferences and style.

My current editor doesn't like too many pronouns.

My first editor did not like the conjunction 'and' as she said many times two particular actions can't always be happening at the same time. She closed the door and sat down. Which makes sense. So with her, I used a lot of 'then' structures. She closed the door, then sat down.

My newest editor is the opposite. She does not like the 'then' structure, but prefers the 'and' formation. (Or the 'take your pick of another conjunction' formation: and then, but, so, :, two separate sentences.) Most of the comments on the mss state 'Use a conjunction'. At this point, (I'm about halfway through) if I hit a page when I don't see that phrase, I am literally jumping for joy.

She's also removed some wordiness and taken out some of the description of action type lines. She said it's nice to lend authenticity, but to stick with things that really show character. Whenever she deletes something, she leaves a comment explaining why. Some phrasing simply needs to be tightened or rewritten. In these spots she's offered suggestions, but has ultimately left it to me to make the decision. She also told me if I ever disagree with something she's changed or deleted, to add a comment (Edits should always be done with the 'track changes' feature on.) explaining why I want it to remain. There are a few changes/deletions that I do disagree with and will let her know, but I am picking and choosing those that are most important to me.

Although the edits seem to be taking a long time, just by virtue of the fact that I have little time each day to work on them, I know in the end I will have a story that's the best it can be. From round one we'll continue to round two and so on, each time tweaking a little something more, until we get to that final stage of approving the galley. Which is always exciting.

In other news I am still waiting on a cover and release date for The Vampire and the Vixen. When I asked my editor about it a couple of weeks ago, she said the cover was coming 'momentarily'. Apparently our definitions may be crossed on that term. But I'm trying to be patient. Working on Home has been a nice distraction.

And speaking of, I need to get back to work on that mss...

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A Long Time Coming

Last week when I got home from vacation I had some wonderful news in my in-box...I finally sold This Feels Like Home to TWRP! The has gone back and forth with an editor for the better part of the last eighteen months. I am beyond excited that this book will finally be out there. It completes a trilogy I dreamed about writing way back when I first sat down and got 'serious' about being a writer.

This story is about Jake, a bull rider, and city gal, Amber. Jake made appearances in both This Time for Always and This Can't Be Love. Now it's his turn to be the hero.

Over the weekend I spent some time working on my Manuscript Information Sheet and Cover Art Sheet. Here's what I came up with for the blurb and the excerpt:

BLURB

The last thing Amber Winfield wants, or needs, is a rodeo cowboy. She never imagined she'd be having a fling with one. Then again, she never imagined she'd meet someone like Jake Hawkins. Soon she comes to realize a one night stand with the sexy cowboy wasn't enough. Despite his dangerous career, Amber finds herself falling for the charismatic bull rider.

Jake's one goal in life is to ride the pro-circuit. He won't let anything, or anyone, stand in the way of his dream. So why can't he get city gal Amber off of his mind - or out of his heart?


EXCERPT

Jake leaned toward her, his gaze on her lips. Amber's heart thudded against her ribs as she read his intent. His mouth brushed hers. Once. Twice. Then again and again. He stroked with a teasing touch until on instinct, her lips parted, and the kiss became serious.
When was the last time she’d been kissed like this? Had she ever been kissed like this? Her heart pounded. Her pulse raced. Thick, molten heat made her limbs weak. Her hands found his shoulders, then wound around his neck.
He took a step closer and slid his arm around her back beneath the blazer to ease her against him as he slanted his mouth across hers. His lips were warm. Firm.
A petal of desire unfurled in the pit of her stomach. Less than a week ago she’d sworn she’d never had a fantasy about a cowboy. Now, in the space of several racing heartbeats, several dozen popped into her mind. All of them featuring Jake. All of them carnal. All of them begging to be fulfilled by a stranger she barely knew. She broke the kiss on a gasp, unnerved by the depth of her response. Had need ever flared this strong, this intense, this quickly?
His breath hitched in an uneven rhythm, but he smiled as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She shivered.
“I don’t suppose I can talk you into coming to my place for a cup of coffee?” The words, uttered in his husky drawl, whispered over her. Through her. Touching places deep and secret. Igniting more hidden desires. Desires she’d never had until now.
The age old and oft used line should have offended her. Instead the shocking temptation to say yes froze her to the spot.

My new editor - Home will fall under the Yellow Rose (contemporary cowboy) line - said she'd have the first round of edits to me early next week. Cowboy up!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com