Articles for the Month of September 2014

Haunting Danielle, Book 2 – Off to the beta readers!

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The second book in the Haunting Danielle series has been sent to the beta readers. After the betas finish and I make any necessary changes, it is off to the editor for a Nov 1 release.

I’ve been having a great deal of fun writing this series. So far the Amazon reviews have been favorable for the first book. While it only has three reviews—they are each five stars.

What have the reviewers said about the first book?

“I love good mysteries and this is one of the best I have read.”

“Her characters were quirky, funny, and sassy.”

“Light, fun, clean, well crafted paranormal mystery in the vein of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.”

When you discover your character’s name has been used before — and is kinda sorta famous.

One of the supporting characters in Haunting Danielle is a police officer named Joe Morelli. This morning one of my friends finished Haunting Danielle and asked me, “Did you know that Joe Morelli is Janet Evanovich’s male MC in the Stephani Plum series?”

Hmmm no…I haven’t read that series. I really had no idea. I borrowed the surname from a friend of ours, and Joe from our son-in-law.

My Joe Morelli is no relation to the character created by the talented Ms. Evanovich. I wonder how often this happens—I imagine frequently.  I recall not long ago one of my friends released her first book, a YA that was well received. Yet one reviewer blasted her for naming her character similar to a YA character in another series, accusing my friend of stealing the name. Fact was, my friend had a sentimental reason for selecting her character’s name, and it had nothing to do with the other YA book.

I toyed with the idea of changing the name—yet those who have already read the book, and have it on their eBook reader and intend to read Book 2 when it comes out November 1, 2014, might get confused. My Morelli character plays a central role in the next book, so I’m torn. Chances are, this sort of thing will probably happen again.

What would you do?

Series Facebook Pages

I currently have three series — The Coulson Series, Unlocked Hearts and now Haunting Danielle, which will have two books in the series come November 1, and a third in January.

Unlocked Facebook

I understand that not all my readers will necessarily be interested in each series, because they are each a little different from each other.

The Coulson Series is a family drama with romance, mystery and adult subject matter. Unlocked Hearts is light romance, where the story is about the falling in love. Haunting Danielle is a cozy paranormal mystery.

I decided to create Facebook pages for each series–and each Facebook page will focus on just that series. I hope you stop by and check them out– and I would really appreciate any likes.

Coulson Facebook

Hope to see you over on Facebook!

Click here to visit The Coulson Series Facebook page.

Click here to visit the Unlocked Hearts Facebook page.

Click here to visit the Haunting Danielle Facebook page.

Hope to see you over on Facebook!

Unlocked Hearts

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What’s in a name?

SensualRomanceSeries4

I’ve come to a decision – I’m renaming my Sensual Romance Series. The reviews tell me readers are misled by the series name, expecting more—well—more sex. The books can’t be classified as “clean” romance, yet nor are they erotic romance.

Looking back—I think I intended to have more heat, considering how the first book written for the series (After Sundown) started out. I mean really, look what Cole and Kit did on the dance floor of the After Sundown bar in the first chapter!

But along the way, the books took a turn to sweet. In fact, many reviewers pointed out While Snowbound is more sweet than sensual.

So I’m revaluating the title, looking for one that accurately sums up the series so as not to mislead readers.

Stories in this series are fairly predictable, in that they are happily ever after—boy meets girl—boy and girl get to know each other—boy and girl have conflicts—boy and girl end up together.

The stories are about the journey—the falling in love.

Do I name the series: Falling in love??? Journey of falling in love?

What do you think? Any suggestions?