On this day....

I feel validated. I am so excited to announce that Mine, All Mine will be published through Tinderboox ePublishing. I feel validated because for the first time someone outside friends, family, or random Internet reader finds my book to be good enough for publishing. This is a huge step for my writing career and a wonderful feeling. I will be working with a professional editor, proof reader, and cover designer. When the final (revised) draft is finished it will be promoted and sold through Amazon kdp select, Smashwords, and Barnes&Nobel ePublishing. I definitely had a screaming dancing around my room moment (silent scream because my son was napping). For all you cynics out there I am well aware this is not my J.K. Rowling or Stefanie Meyer break though and I am not quitting my day job but this is  big deal to me and I am damn excited. This may not be my winning lottery ticket but it is definitely a step towards my dream. There is still lots of work to be done but I won't be doing it alone now. Opportunity is knocking and I am opening the door!

For aspiring authors, experienced freelance editors, proof readers, and cover designers check it out!
Tinderboox.com

Try, try, try again.

So I have decided to submit Mine, All Mine to an agent and see where it goes. I would love to be a self published author and rock it all on my own but the truth of the matter is I have no idea how to sell myself. Writing romance is still something I hold very close to me. Few people inside my family have actually read my writing let alone know that I write/have written a complete book. It is what it is, I accepted a long time ago that I don't have a good support system around me. I am just not good at being my own cheerleader so I will attempt to solicit an agent again. I've done it before with previous works in progress but never with the finished Mine, All Mine. Ive gotten good feed back from this agent before and I am hoping that with a finished manuscript that has gotten good reviews she will take me on and be my cheerleader. The fact is I can't sell a candy bar to save my life so I don't even know how to begin to sell my book or even get myself out there. Wish me luck!

Long Road To Somewhere.

Does that sound like a book title? Kind of, maybe I will use that maybe not...Anyway when I am feeling down about my currently non-existent writing career I  like to go onto Authonomy.com which is  website where aspiring authors can showcase their work and rate each other. I have a lot of great comments about Mine, All Mine on there so when I need a confidence booster I read them and it reminds me that hey...maybe I do have  a shot at being a successful romance author because these strangers, who read a very rough draft, all really liked it. I just wish I could be more proactive with getting my name out there and getting my book read but I have no idea how to do that. I am on a long road to somewhere but don't quite understand how I am getting there. I strive to write every day and blog when I can. I am currently working on a novella titled Fallen Angel that will be finished by the end of August if not sooner and hopefully shortly e-published after that. I would love to do a compilation with other beginner authors for charity that will support a good cause and also spread our names about but again...I have no idea how to go about doing that. I feel directionless.

What's in a name?

For some one like Nora Roberts and James Patterson? A whole damn lot. This morning I read  a blog post on the website smartbitchestrashybooks.com about two unknown authors from a "publisher" called Southern Pied Media. I use quotations marks because this is not publishing. Two authors, if they can be called such, published e-books under the pen names Nora A. Roberts and James A. Patterson thinking to trick readers to buy books under the assumption they are reading books buy Nora Roberts and James Patterson. Really? They claim they thought readers could tell the difference when reading the book description. You can read responses from Southern Pied and Nora Roberts on the Smart Bitches blog here. Its total BS of course to steal an authors name like this and think to get away with it by simply adding a middle initial. Shame shame on you who ever you are. Self publishing authors like myself work hard to promote our selves and our work only to have you cheapen it by damaging the trust of readers. 

That being said, I know there is another D.L. Rose author which I discovered after the creation of my own pen name but given the title of their book, Shepherds Of Terror, I am sure they are not of the same genre of my novels. I am the only D.L. Rose of historical romance. :)

Julie Anne Long

I have made a discovery thanks to the recent e-book sale of books with devilish earls. That discovery is the wonderful writing and characters of Julie Anne Long. The first book I read was I Kissed An Earl which was fabulous and now I can't stop reading her books which is irresponsible of me because I have my own writing to do. I've actually lost a fair amount of sleep due to insomnia which leads to more reading and a bleary eyed new mom come the light of day after going to bed at three am and a six month old who likes to wake promptly at seven. I'm not good for much during the day except napping with my baby... and more reading :)
Check her out! Her writing is truly an inspiration and very hilarious. One of my favorite and funniest scenes comes from Like No Other Lover. This scene is the result of a drinking game which has the heroine and her cohorts good and snookered.

"Lady Windermere went pop-eyed with alarm, flung her arms skyward and vanished below the table as though a shark had pulled her under-water. Her hand cards sprayed up like sea foam then and rained down."

This entire scene had me waking up my husband with giggling. Her description is creative, inventive, and often laugh out loud funny.  I can't say enough so just read her books!
JulieAnneLong.com

Invisible Girl

I'm short and unassuming so in general I am easy to miss in a crowd but that is not what I am talking about here. A good example? My dad just might be the only person to read this. Hi dad. Being a self published author isn't easy and I have never been one to market myself or stand out so its doubly difficult for me. I am not good at selling myself, candy bars or books for that matter. I can sell Carmel covered apple lolly pops but that's because those babies sell themselves.
In the literary community I am invisible. I am taking the steps that so many other authors have taken before me to market and sell my books but still I only have two novels sold all to family who I can bet have not read them. I know I'm not reaching readers like myself and I haven't figured out how to do that. What will it take? A book signing? A reading in a coffee house? I can just imagine it and the look I will get of, " And you are?"
I have mastered the art of invisibility without a cloak but now I need to learn to be seen and I don't know how to do that.

Explain it to death why don't you?

 I most likely fell in love with romance while reading a Cynster novel by Stephanie Laurens. These were my first foray into historical romance and while I have dabbled in contemporary and paranormal; historical is where my heart is. The Cynster series is exceptional especially the books featuring the male cousins. I was so happy to find that she was again writing about members of the Cynsters especially characters I knew as children in the beginning of the series. However, something has happened to her writing style over the past few years that has made it difficult for me to read her books. If she isn't describing things by three's every other sentence, " He touched, he fondled, he caressed.", not a quote from her book just my example, she explains things to death. I really don't need three pages of internal dialogue thank you. Every heroine and hero in every romance novel needs to rationalize their internal emotions at some point. This is what makes them more realistic and easier to relate to, but please don't spend three pages explaining it to me in the guise of your characters voice. Show me the money, to quote Jerry McGuire, show me what she is feeling and how she is dealing with it don't just tell me. I literally have skipped pages of the book because I am bored with Angelica (the heroine) over analysing every expression and word Dominic (the hero) makes and vice versa. The sexual tension is also not up to par. I'm not really believing the attraction between these two yet. Hopefully as I continue to read it will get better. Yep that's right, I haven't even finished the book yet. There is one more book I have to read to finish this series but if it has the same trouble as this book may stop reading Stephanie Laurens altogether. I hope not, I hope to remain a loyal reader but not at the expense of a mind meld from over explanation. Give it a read and tell me what you think?

To Complex?

I have started the first chapter of Sweet Torture. It will be a two part book but instead of two parts contained in one book I am playing with the idea of making them two separate books with a book featuring another couple in-between that will contain a key element of Sweet Tortures story leading into part two. As a reader would that be irritating? Would it be to confusing to read part one, then a separate book altogether and then read part two? Or would it be good suspense? I don't want to give away to much obviously so I apologize if this is ambiguous but I am looking for opinions. What do you think?

Second Time Around

I love my Nook Color. I don't think my husband realized that when he gave it to me for Christmas two years ago he was giving me the ability to buy books to my hearts content 24/7! I recently finished A Dukes Temptation by Jillian Hunter and as I began to read it I realized that I have already read it in paperback version! Oh well...I still got sucked in to the fabulous story of Lily and Samuel and will be moving on to the next book in her bridal pleasure series. Samuel is not your traditional duke and Lily is not your typical heroine, but I can easily relate to a girl who loves to read can't you? The Boscastle family is lustfully entertaining and I am sure this won't be the last Jillian Hunter book I re-read. My husband doesn't understand how I can re-read a book and love it just as much but I also don't understand how he can watch game after game on T.V. and then watch all those ESPN shows that talk about the game he just watched. Whatever. To each their own. What book did you enjoy the second time around?

Welcome readers!

This is the first posting of my new blog in which I will talk about books, authors, and my own writing. I hope this can be a place for readers to come and share their favorite authors and books so we can all enlighten each other about what is new in the romance world. I will occasionally be posting about my own books and giving sneak peeks of my newly published Mine, All Mine. Check in for peeks of my next novel titled Sweet Torture. I will be posting excerpts as I write and posting about the challenges of writing and self publishing. My debut novel is currently available at lulu.com, ibookstore, and coming soon to amazon.com and BN.com. I would love to hear from readers of my first novel and welcome comments. It was a long journey to publishing on my own and I know I am still growing and learning as an author. You can visit my website for more info about me and my books at www.dlrose.vpweb.com.