Myspace Assimilated

Yeah. I did it. I joined Myspace. Don’t judge me. I’ve been told as an author it’s a must. Don’t know how much I believe that. But it’s been fun so far. Begging for friends has become a near obsession. Ya think there’s a 12 step program to detox from myspace?

Other news...
WITCH LORE cover!!!!
Yes, folks you heard it hear first, (assuming you haven’t checked my site). The cover for my upcoming release, WITCH LORE, is here. Tell me what you think!

I am constantly amazed by the talent of Ellora’s Cave cover artist. I think we’ve got some of the best in the buiz.

Writing wise, I just finished a short erotic romance novella (even though I told myself I wasn’t going to write any more erotic romances. HA!). I couldn’t resist. I had this story in my head and I saw that Harlequin is starting up an e-published line called Spice Briefs. So I figured...why not? Took me two weeks to write.

Here’s a quick summery:

Mattie Banebridge, highest ranking member of the Banebridge werewolf pack, must take a mate by the end of the Dark Moon Gathering in three days, or risk being forced into a debasing, polygamous marriage and sentencing the women in her pack to unspeakable degradations. Not a problem, except that the one guy who makes Mattie’s body go liquid hot and turns her thoughts toward happily ever afters, just happens to be the alpha son of the largest polygamy pack in the country.

DARK MOON GATHERING, is under 15,000 words, quick hot and satisfying. What more could anyone ask for? ~LOL~

Aside from handling my new addiction to collecting myspace friends, I’m working with a wonderful woman, Kelly Mortimer, on my paranormal romance TEMPTING ANGELS. She REALLY knows her stuff and is turning my mess of prose into a gripping tale. LOVE YA, Kelly!!

I’m also working on one more erotic romance. This one will be a longer novella about fairies and reunited love. Keep your fingers crossed it’s what they’re looking for!!

After that, I’ve got plans for my first attempt at Urban Fantasy. At an estimated 100,000 that one will take some time.
I’ll keep you updated on the progress! Until next time...

Don’t forget to stop by Ellora’s Cave May 18th to download your copy of WITCH LORE! A fun, erotic romance full of magic and hot, hot love.

*smiles*
~Paige :)

Myspace... Friend me!!

Sternly Spanked

Go ahead. I deserve it. I’ve been woefully neglectful of my blog. Now most of the leaves have fallen off and the ones that are left are all brown and crunchy around the edges...
Okay, maybe that only makes sense in my head. Er...never mind.

I do have good news, though. First...There are new additions to The Writer’s Cave. Most noteably, Sherrilyn Kenyon. Check it out if you’ve got the time!

Also...My Valentine Vixen Quickie, I, ROBOT VALENTINE, is out for sale!!! Yay! (Anyone catch the nod to Asimov? He’s probably rolling in his grave.) I always thought Asimov didn’t FULLY explore all the possibilities of a humanoid robot. Then again, he didn’t have the mind of a woman. ~evil grin~

I, ROBOT VALENTINE is under my penname, Alison Paige. I’m featured on the front page of Ellora’s Cave in the special pretty little box thingy they made for the Vixen releases. Too neat!

Here’s a quick blurb if you’re so inclined...


I, Robot Valentine
Alison Paige

Ally hasn’t risked love since her divorce. Luckily in the year 2106 divorces are finalized within days and sex toys are humanoid robots. But healing the heart takes time. So why after two weeks with her Valentine’s gift, a Companion sex robot, is she wishing he were as real as her growing love for him?

Thomas Zentry, owner of Issamov Enterprises and model for the Companion robot, would do anything to win Ally’s heart, including posing as her personal sex robot. But he can’t help wondering—is Ally falling for the robot or the man?

Want more? Go to my alias site, www.alisonpaige.net and check out an excerpt. Or you can download the whole thing at Ellora’s Cave for around 3 Bucks! That’s a DEAL!! (I feel like a used car salesmen...not that there’s anything wrong with used car salesmen... never mind.)

On another, related, note... I sold my erotic novella fantasy, WITCH LORE.
WOOHOO!!! This one is longer and written with Ellora’s Cave in mind as a home. I’m so glad they wanted it. I haven’t worked up an official blurb or quickie synopsis yet but basically...

WITCH LORE, is an erotic fantasy/ paranormal and is chock full of naughty fairies, skimpily dressed mermaids, wild witch tales, island mysteries and HOT sex! Interested? Here’s a little more...

Isabell Dionysus is a witch and she needs to find a man. Not just any man, but a man attuned to magic, a man who will fulfill the agreement her, great grandmother made with the fairies long ago and save her humanity. But time’s running out and the luring spell she cast has brought her a man who’s perfect for her in every way but one. He wants nothing to do with magic.

All of David Pennyfield’s life he’s managed to deny his gifts until a week ago, when his magic sight returned. He’s desperate to banish all magic from his life before it drives him crazy like his mother. But when Isabell, The Witch of Seven Isles tells him sex magic with her is the only way to get what he wants. David isn’t sure which he wants more, a magic free life or Isabell.

The release date hasn’t been nailed down yet. The deal is THAT new. But I’m REALLY jazzed about the sale and can’t wait for it to be out there.

Hope everyone’s keeping warm! I’ll try and keep this blog plant from dieing. Check back and see how I’m tending it.

{{HUGS}}}
~Paige :)

Alison Paige on the web!

I did it. I finally created a website for my new penname. Oh, yeah. I have a new penname. Alison Paige. When I first started writing I didn’t want to use a penname...ever. Why? Well, even though Alison Paige (or whatever penname I’d chosen) is me, it still feels like a costume or mask. People don’t readily know it’s me. And I figured if I was going to put forth all this effort and creativity I wanted to make sure I’m the one (me, Paige Cuccaro) who got the credit. Is that bad? Weird? Yeah. Oh, well.

But then I started writing erotica and it was suggested to me that some publishers may want me to use a penname to differentiate my erotica titles from my non-erotica titles. At the time I had two single title non-erotica romances and one erotica novella under my real name. If I had to have a penname, I’d rather it be for my erotica titles. And I knew if I was going to associate my erotica titles with a penname, I had to do it before I contracted any more (before the balance was swayed the other way). And so, Ta-da! Alison Paige was born.

http://www.alisonpaige.net/ is the home of my alter ego, Alison Paige. Author of sensual romance. YAY!

As if that’s not enough, I’ve got a new story coming out under my penname. I, ROBOT LOVER, is coming to Ellora’s Cave February 7, 2007. It’s part of their Valentine Vixen Quickie series.

Ally hasn’t risked love since her divorce. Luckily in the year 2106 divorces are finalized within days and sex toys are humanoid robots. But healing the heart takes time. So why after two weeks with her Valentine’s gift, a Companion sex robot, is she wishing he were as real as her growing love for him?

Thomas Zentry, owner of Issamov Enterprises and model for the Companion robot, would do anything to win Ally’s heart, including posing as her personal sex robot. But he can’t help wondering—is Ally falling for the robot or the man?


All that and a birthday too. Yep. Just had a birthday. November 18th. The same day Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married. Ugh. As if entering the second half of my life wasn’t mind-numbing enough...now I’ve gotta hear how the day will forever be linked with their happiness. Eh, it’s a Hollywood marriage, how long could it actually last?

Good luck , Tom and Katie, but the day was mine first! ~L~

COFW Conference

Last weekend I attended the Central Ohio Fiction Writer’s Conference. I always look forward to and enjoy my RWA Chapter’s conference, but this year it was a great deal more relaxing and enjoyable than it’s been in the past. Maybe that’s because I made a conscious decision not to worry about where I’d get to sit, who I’d get to sit with, how I was going to succinctly summarize the manuscript I would be pitching, and any number of other things I’ve worried myself sick about in the past.

It worked.

I sat with friends, old and new. I got to chat with Christina Hogrebe from the Jane Rotrosen Agency

and Diana Su from Thomas Dune Books. I won a kick-butt basket/duffle bag with Harley Davison emblems on it and stuffed with a ton of amazing books. I also won a critique from Christina that I can’t wait to take advantage of.

Our Keynote speakers were Jennifer Crusie, and Bob Mayer. They were great! With both of them having a background in teaching they were able to teach without lecturing. It was so much fun listing to their workshop on Friday night and their speech on Saturday afternoon. I’d met Jenny before, years ago, but she was cool enough not to pretend she remembered clearer than she really did. I reminded her where we’d met (a book signing in Columbus) and she remembered the signing. ~LOL~ Jenny was also one of the first major authors to agree to join in The Writer’s Cave donating a picture of which legends will be made.

I met Bob Mayer for the first time last weekend, although he too donated a picture of his office to The Writer’s Cave. Bob struck me as very shy, and somewhat standoffish. He could give the impression of being a little aloof but after watching him warm during their speeches as the crowd enjoyed his jokes and banter with Jenny, that chilly demeanor vanished. Shy people are often mistaken for being stuck-up or snobbish or self-important. I can’t imagine Jenny being friends with someone like that and so it was easy to give Bob the benefit of the doubt. I was right. (Plus, he sent a photo to The Writer’s Cave, that alone makes him a prince among men!)

I also got to catch up with Lori & Tony Karayianni (AKA Tori Carrington). I LOVE THESE TWO!!!! ~LOL~ They are a blast to hang out with. They call me and Eric (my husband) Their kissin’ cousins. If you couldn’t guess from the names, Tony is Greek and Eric is Italian. It’s a whole big thing about looks and swapin’ women during ancient invasions of which both Tony and Eric love to discuss in loud boisterous voices. (not sure if that’s a guy thing of a cousin thing.) Anyway, they’re cute together. Two European men who “get” each other. It’s fun to see. And then there’s Lori, married, like me, to a European man and believe me, we “get” each other too! I just loved, loved, loved seeing them again!! Not only because of what great people they are, but as writers they are so encouraging. They remember what it was like to be starting out and understand all the freaky doubts and worries. If you ever have a chance to hear them speak, I highly recommend it.

For those of you who missed the conference and live close enough to come to the next one...don’t miss it. Nationals is great, but there’s nothing like a small, relaxed writers conference where you can have real conversations with experienced and influential people in the business. It’s priceless!

Thanks to Carol Roddy for the great photos!

Revisions, Rewrites and Rubbish

Every writer faces the decision at one point or another. Do I revise, rewrite or trash it and start something new?

I’m there now.

THE SHAMAN’S DAUGHTER was the first book I sold, but it wasn’t the first book I wrote. Neither was QUEEN OF HEARTS the last book I wrote. I’ve written more than ten books in all, some before and some after both of them, one of which was my novella FALLEN FOR YOU. Obviously not all have been published, so what to do with those still giving birth to dust bunnies under my bed?

Revise, Rewrite, or Rubbish?

TAME HORSES WILD HEARTS, started its less than glorious life as a category length contemporary romance. It won third place in the 2003 Great Expectations Contest. But I couldn’t sell it to save my life. Three years later, reading back over it, I understand why. That’s not to say the judges shouldn’t have chosen it for third place, but they only have a few pages from which to make their decision. The problems with this manuscript go far deeper.

Initially I’d decided it was beyond hope. It was easier to start from scratch than to try to fix the multitude of issues from which this story suffered. I think a part of the reason trashing it seemed easier was because even though I knew there was something wrong with the writing, I couldn’t identify the problems nor did I possess the ability (skill, knowledge, experience, whatever) to correct them.

I do now.

I think.

See, the thing is, I really like this story. I like the setting, I like the plot, I like the title and I like the characters...in theory (character development is one of the issues.) So I decided to “revise” TAME HORSES WILD HEARTS. In other words, I’d cherry pick through the existing story and try to fix trouble spots.

Yeah. That’s hard. Especially since so much of the story is a trouble spot.

So I switched from revising it to rewriting it. And...what the heck...while I’m at it, I’d change the genre and length. Now, what I had started as a quick (ish) little revision project has become what feels like a major start-from-scratch undertaking. I’ve changed character names, delved into their backgrounds, (for me, not the reader). I’ve focused the plot, and turned up the chemistry between all the characters. I’ve gone chapter by chapter sketching an outline using the original as a guideline rather than the meat and bones of the story. It feels like a big project and I’ve walled myself in my writer’s cave to take it on.

But it’s not the same kind of mammoth project as a start-from-scratch work. I’ve saved a ton of time by having a full manuscript (even a bad one) to work with. Rather than writing into the darkness, with a vague idea of how I’ll get the characters from point A to point E, I can focus on crafting the story, revealing information at a better pace, showing more character motivation and personality and trashing all the stuff that muddied the thing before.

In the end this story went from Rubbish, to Revisions, to Rewriting and now Rebirth.

I’m excited about writing TAME HORSES WILD HEARTS. Way more than I was when I only planned to revise it, a million times more than I was when I saw it as rubbish. Being excited about a story is a good thing. It means the manuscript has a better chance at being a better story.

So, YAY for me. YAY for TAME HORSES WILD HEARTS.

The down side? I’ll be lost to the world for the next 8 to 10 weeks.

Will ya miss me?

Promotion: What works and what doesn't

I’ve been going ‘round and ‘round on this. Should I spend the money, waste the time? Should I make zillions of bookmarks, buy pens with my name on them? Is it worth the time it takes to make a ton of promotional magnets, or postcards? Does any of it translate to hard cold sales?

Who knows?
None of it’s ever made me buy a book.

Many of the diehard promotion addicts are quick to say, “It’s not just sales you’re going after, but name recognition.”

So a pen with my name on it will make someone remember me? Really? Okay. Without looking, what’s written on your pen? (Yah...thought so.)

To be fair, it’s well known that advertising runs in threes. I.e. the average person doesn’t ingest the content of an ad, a tv commercial, a name on a pen, until they’ve seen it at least three times. So, that pen you got at a conference...you’ll probably have to “see” it three times before you remember who’s on it and even then the chances are the information will slip from your conscience minutes later.

Bookmarks? I’ve seen some really nice ones, glossy, professional looking with info on a specific book and/or author. Here, let me grab one of the best ones I’ve received to give you an example.... Oh wait. That’s right. I threw it away. (Harsh? Yes. But, realistic.) I’ve literally received hundreds of promotional bookmarks. HUNDREDS!! Never, not once, ever, as beautiful as some were, did I ever buy a book because of a promotional bookmark. What author names were on the bookmarks? I dunno. So much for name recognition.

I’m lucky enough to be on speaking terms with several of the authors I read regularly and I asked them what promotional crap they invested in. Their answer? None. And these are New York Times bestsellers.

So how’d they do it? How’d they make the NYT’s without pens with their names on them?!?! Unanimously, each of them said they got on email loops, and chats, and went to conferences. They got out there and met people, told them about their books and word spread.

Then I realized that’s how I found each of them. Someone else mentioned their books, said they were great (usually took about 3 people mentioning them<--SEE! Three!) and then I went to check them out myself. It didn’t hurt that they each wrote a damn good book, but what got me to them wasn’t printed on a bookmark or pen. No problem remembering their name after I read their book either. Go figure!!

The other thing all these NYT authors had in common ... Websites. I think every writer (at least in the last 15 years) has wondered, at some point, whether they should have a website. Le’me help you out. Here’s the answer. YES! If you want to be a writer, if you want to sell your books, if you want some of that “name recognition”,
YOU SHOULD HAVE A WEBSITE.

Any questions?

Can you be a writer and sell books and build name recognition, without a website? Sure. You can fill a bucket with water using a thimble, but why would you?

More and more, publishers and agents check the web for a writer’s presence BEFORE they sign them. No, they DO NOT troll the internet looking to “discover” writers. That’s not what I meant. Wake up! You’re not Cinderella.

However, when you send in that partial, or make a great impression at your pitch session, they often DO make a note of your name and see what’s out there about you or by you. How much of an effort are you making to launch your career, how serious are you about being a writer, how many stupid things have you said or done that’s now floating in cyberspace for all to see? (Yeah...they find the bad stuff right along with the good, so watch what you say, and what you put out there...this isn’t your living room—it’s the world’s living room. Keep your clothes on and be polite.)

After you're published a website is a 24/7 salesmen. Readers and potential fans can get to know you, what you write, see your covers, read excerpts and ingest more name recognition then grabbing your personalized pen, bookmark, notepad, magnet or jar opener twenty times.

So, as far as promotion goes, a website is a must, and so is getting out there and becoming part of the book reading and buying public. But mostly...write a damn good book people will talk about.

The rest? Well here’s my take. Postcards, bookmarks with excerpts or blurbs, anything I can actually put vital ordering information and book content on will go mostly to booksellers...not buyers. People who buy hundreds of books to sell and can’t rely solely on word of mouth.

The other stuff, stuff that’s fun or useful, like first chapter booklets, plastic vampire teeth, a cute or funny pin, my paperclip office angels, any novelty type thing that relates to my book or to me as a writer, I’ll give for conference goodie bags and giveaways. These I see as gifts. These I’ll do if I have extra money or extra time. I don’t expect to see any return on them and what I invest, financially or time wise, I invest freely, because it makes me feel good to do it.

So, if you find something from me in your conference goodie bag, Merry Christmas, and Happy birthday. You’re welcome.

Now, I’m off to write a damn good book.

~Till next time!

Catching Up

A lot’s happened since the last time I posted back in April. For one thing I have a new book out. QUEEN OF HEARTS, through Cerridwen Press.

It’s a romantic comedy set in New Orleans, one of my FAVORITE places.

My anthology, ELLORA’S CAVEMEN, DREAMS OF THE OASIS, won Ecataromance’s reviewer’s choice for sensual romance. YAY!!

My short story CYANA was reserved by Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Which means they’ll buy it if they find room in one of their upcoming issues. No room, no sale. Harsh but true. Still, the offer is something. I was thrilled when they told me they sorta, kinda, maybe wanted CYANA.

I’ve had a few signings, Lori Foster and Dianne Castell’s Readers and Writers Get together...

(More than 40 authors were in attendance. A LOT of fun!!)

And had a second run at New & Olde Pages Book Shoppe. It was great seeing Marianne again.

I’ll be attending the Central Ohio Fiction Writers conference in October, but I’ve decided not to sign. However, if you’ve already bought DREAMS OF THE OASIS, bring it along and I’ll be happy to sign it.

For now, I’m working on a short erotica I’m hoping Ellora’s Cave will want. It’ll be what they call a quickie. That’s a reference to the length of the story, not the time it took to write (this one’s taken me weeks--unusual) or any deficiency regarding the hero’s...ah...performance.

After that I’ve got another erotica quickie I want to write. This one I’m pretty sure EC won’t want because it’ll be in first person. But I’ve got to write it....just one of those things. You writers know what I’m talking about.

Next up, I’ll be revising an old story that deserves another shot at the publishing mill. And then I’ll finally start on my new series.

I’ve been pushing this back, telling myself writing it will be easy because I want to write it so much. My intellect knows that’s not always true. I’m going to keep believing it anyway. I want to get these other, “smaller” projects out of the way. Starting a new full length novel from scratch is a big commitment. When I start, I want to finish. No interruptions. No putting off the writing for something else. So I get the little stuff done first. Make sense? Never mind. It does to me.

What’s this new series about? That’s fodder for another post. I can tell you it has nothing to do with angels.

Until next time!