Today is the release day for my new YA book, STRAWBERRY SUMMER.
In between my happy dances, I’m visiting with two wonderful authors today to discuss my new book.
I’m over with J.C.McKenzie at http://www.jcmckenzie.blogspot.ca
and I’m at http://www.CatherineChant.com/blog with Catherine Chant.
We would love it if you would stop by and read about my latest release.
Buy links on my “JUST RELEASED” tab
Life has become really busy lately what with a new job and The Daughter’s final year of non-university volleyball coming to a close, but I’ve finally found a few minutes to let everyone know that I’ve signed another contract with The Wild Rose Press, for my next novella, REAL LOVE.
To be released around Valentine’s Day 2016 for TWRP’s CANDY HEART SERIES, REAL LOVE is a sci-fi romance. No need to worry if sci-fi is not your thing, and my apologies to any hardcore sci-fi fans who are saying “yea, me”…but what makes this sci-fi is simply that it takes place on a space ship and that my heroine, Monda, although looking very much like you and I, is not from our planet. (Assuming your planet is also earth. If not, well…)
As a young girl, our heroine, Monda was placed into the tutelage of Mistress Teevac for the purpose of improving her empathic skills, to eventually be sold to a new mate and master. Regardless of her upbringing, Monda wants a life – and a love – of her own choosing. When her spaceship crashes (on a purple planet, perhaps like the one above) on the way to her prearranged life, Monda’s eyes – and heart – are opened to other possibilities.
When our hero, Lieutenant Patrick Lancaster, looks at the exotic Monda, he sees beautiful, not alien. But there is no point in following through on his feelings, as soon as Monda’s guardian wakes from her coma, the two women will be leaving on their way to Monda’s new mate and new life.
I write novellas. Some would call them short stories. Some say novelette. Whatever you want to call these stories between 7,500 and 20,000 words, that’s what I write.
I was flipping through the May 2014 Romance Writers Report…somehow it ended up in the TBR pile with a bunch of lesser read magazines…and I found an article “Don’t Shortchange the Short-Story Market” which I thought offered some interesting insight into the short story market.
“…toward the close of the 20th century, printing costs rose and advertisers diminished. Distractions such as television and computers arose, and short stories all but disappeared…But, then, like a shining knight on a white horse, in galloped independent e-publishers” (thank you Wild Rose Press!) ”Riding atop that horse, armor gleaming and lance at the ready, were romance writers. We created the market for e-books, and now, it appears, we’re reconstructing the market for short stories.”
So, true. Unless you could get into an anthology, the market for short stories was all but nil until the e-reader came along.
The article went on to say “it’s harder to write them [short stories] because you have to do more in fewer words and then you get paid less”.
Well, I’d disagree on the first part. I can’t imagine sitting down and writing an entire 100,000 word novel. (I read a lot of novellas for the same reason…time.) As for the money part, well, yeah, obviously if a book costs less, you make less.
What I appreciated the most about the article was the conclusion. “Short stories are enjoying a renaissance, and romance authors are driving their new found popularity…short stories are a time-honored writing tradition that’s languished and struggled but never died. And that says something about how much people love to read them, how much authors love to write them, and , just maybe, what their future may bring.”
A renaissance thanks to e-readers and iphones. While I love the convenience of my Kindle, I don’t always have it with me. But, and I loooove this app, I have my Kindle synced to my iphone and if I suddenly find myself with the need to fill time, voila, I have my book right in my hand/purse/pocket.
So take a chance. Download a novella or short story to your e-reader, computer or phone. Wild Rose Press has a lot of shorter length stories to buy. Want to try one for free? My short story EMERALD EYES is a free download available from Wild Rose Press.
Charlotte Copper... 